Packers: Looking back at every Rodgers vs. Brady matchup

Ahead of this Sunday’s matchup between two of the all-time greatest QBs ever, why don’t we look at how the two of them fared going up against one another. Even though both players have been in the league since 2005, they have only started against each other three times.

This Sunday will be the fourth time the two have faced off as starters. With Tom Brady spending most of his career in the opposite conference, the Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots didn’t play each other a whole lot. Before we dive into this, there was one game that does bear mention.

In 2006, the Packers played the Patriots. Tom Brady and his team got the best of Green Bay that day with a 35-0 dismantling. Of course, this was the game that Brett Favre started. However, Aaron Rodgers did come where he went 4/12.

The Patriots and Packers wouldn’t play each other again until 2010. Aaron Rodgers, unfortunately, missed this game with a concussion. We wouldn’t get our real first matchup between the two until 2014.

There haven’t been many Rodgers vs. Brady matchups but it’s always a treat when Brady gets matched up with the Packers

Patriots at Packers, 2014

The year 2014 is very much thought of as a missed opportunity by Packers fans. The 2014 team is considered to be the most complete team that Aaron Rodgers ever had. The passing game was great as always, but the defense and running game were also real threats to opposing teams as well.

Coming into the game, Green Bay was 8-3 while the Patriots were 9-2. Both teams had Super Bowl aspirations this year which is something that New England went on to achieve. However, Rodgers got the better of Brady in this game with the Packers winning 26-21.

Both QBs played well but Rodgers was outstanding in this game throwing for 368 yards and two touchdowns. The Packers’ rush defense was huge in this game holding New England to under 100 yards.

Packers at Patriots, 2018

Four more years would pass until the Packers and Patriots would once again face-off. The two teams were at very different ends of the spectrum in this one. The Patriots were 6-2 and again, had Super Bowl aspirations that they would achieve later that year.

The Packers were 3-3-1 coming into this game and this was one of the last games Mike McCarthy would be head coach in Green Bay. The Patriots would end up winning 31-17 but the game was closer than that. Rodgers didn’t have a bad game necessarily but this was during a down stretch of his career where he wasn’t quite himself. He went 24/43, 259 yards, and two touchdowns.

On the other side, Brady had a pretty solid game going 22/35, 294 yards, and one touchdown. He was also much more efficient than Rodgers, averaging a whole 2.4 yards per play more. Aaron Jones fumbled the ball in the fourth quarter, which led to a New England touchdown to ice the game.

Packers at Buccaneers, 2020

Fast forward to the 2020 season and we now have Rodgers vs. Brady III. Coming into the game, Green Bay was undefeated at 4-0 while Tampa Bay got off to a slow start going 3-2. This game was pure domination by the Buccaneers.

It started off well enough for the Packers, who were up 10-0 early before Tampa scored 38 unanswered points. This was the worst game of the year for Green Bay and has remained their low-point of the season. The story of the game was the Buccaneers’ pass rush. Tampa’s pass rush tallied five sacks on the day.

Rodgers was horrible in this game going 16/35, 166 yards, zero touchdowns, and two interceptions. Brady was efficient for Tampa Bay but he also wasn’t asked to do a lot for them due to the defense.

Final thoughts

This Sunday, we get the chance to see two of the all-time greats go at it in the NFC Championship. Even though the Buccaneers won the early-season matchup, both these teams are different coming into Sunday. The Packers finally get to host an NFC title game and Packers weather will be a factor on Sunday.

A win on Sunday will even up the series 2-2 with possibly more matchups in the future with Brady probably playing at least one more year. A win on Sunday would certainly help Aaron Rodgers’ legacy, but either way on paper this should be a great game.