If a pitcher or goalie lost their games because their teams couldn’t score, would people blame them for the loss? Logical fans wouldn’t.

In their first playoff appearance, quarterback A and quarterback B posted these stat lines:

Quarterback A: 66.7 completion %, 423 yards, 5 (total) touchdowns, 1 interception, 121.4 QBR.

Quarterback B: 61.9 completion %, 572 yards, 2 (total) touchdowns, 1 interception, 77.3 QBR.

It is crystal clear from these stats that quarterback A had the better first playoff appearance. Furthermore, quarterback A put up all of those numbers in one game, whereas quarterback B put up those numbers over the course of three games.

Let’s take this a step further. Quarterback A lost that game because his defense allowed 45 points. Would he be to blame for the loss? Quarterback B’s defense allowed only 47 points total over the course of those three games. Should he get all the credit if they won the Super Bowl? He wouldn’t and he shouldn’t.

SPOILER ALERT: quarterback A is Aaron Rodgers and quarterback B is Tom Brady.

Rodgers has currently played in 16 career playoff games with just one ring to show for it. Brady had three rings through 16 playoff games. Does that make Brady the better quarterback? Clearly, it doesn’t.

Throughout those 16 games, the Packers averaged the same amount of points per game in losses (25.6) as the Patriots averaged in wins (25.6). What that indicates is that Rodgers’ performance (theoretically) would have been at least good enough to win in New England, just not in Green Bay. It also indicates that Brady’s performance would (again, theoretically) not have been good enough to win in Green Bay.

There’s no better illustration of this “theory” than with this example from the 2016 postseason: It’s true that the Patriots would have lost if the Falcons had scored just one more point in regulation. It’s also true that the Packers defense allowed more points in the first half (24) to the very same Falcons than the Patriots defense did in the entire game (21). Ergo, if you had replaced the Patriots defense with the Packers defense, would Brady have gotten his fifth ring? The answer is simple; no.

Additionally, if you were to change the result of just four plays (the Tuck Rule, Pete Carroll {SB XLIX} and Dan Quinn {SB LI} choosing to run instead of passing, and Bostick not botching the onside kick) both players might currently each have two Super Bowl rings.

Now here’s a look at their career playoff stats:

Rodgers: 63.5 completion %, 7.49 YPA, 278.6 YPG, 2.25 TDs per game, 3.6 to 1 TD/INT ratio, 99.4 QBR.

Brady: 62.7 completion %, 6.86 YPA, 267.5 YPG, 1.85 TDs per game, 2.03 to 1 TD/INT ratio, 89.0 QBR.

It’s pretty evident that Rodgers is superior in every single statistical category. So what has Rodgers not done that Brady has? Has he not “willed” his team to win? Should he have gone out on defense to tackle Marshawn Lynch or cover Julio Jones? Could he have married a Victoria’s Secret supermodel (he probably should have given this one a try)? Admittedly, Rodgers’ performance was sub par in Seattle (2014 Championship Game), but even in that game, he did enough (on one leg) to put his team in a position to win.

In three of his seven postseason losses, Rodgers orchestrated a game-tying drive, only to never see the ball again. The other four losses consisted of, in order:

· 2009 – Rodgers and the offense putting up 45 points only to lose on a missed-facemask call in overtime.

· 2011 – The top-seeded Packers allowing 37 points to the 9-7 Giants.

· 2012 – Capers and the Packers defense making Colin Kaepernick look like a combination of Michael Vick and…well…Aaron Rodgers; allowing the 49ers to put up 45 points in the process.

· 2016 – The Packers defense allowing the Falcons to score on seven of their first eight drives, including 24 points in the first half and 44 total.

In their seven postseason losses with Rodgers as quarterback, the Packers defense has allowed an average of 36.3 points. Comparatively, in their nine postseason losses with Brady as quarterback, the Patriots defense has allowed an average of 26.4 points. That’s nearly a 10 point difference. In addition, in 34 games with Brady as quarterback, the Patriots defense has allowed just three 30-plus point games.

Rodgers has never lost a postseason game when the opposing team scored 21 points or fewer. Brady has lost three such games. As noted by a Packers fan account on Twitter, Green Bay has never scored under 20 points in the playoffs with Rodgers as quarterback. New England, with Brady, has done so nine times including twice in the Super Bowl. Rodgers has had two multi-interception games in the playoffs, Brady has had nine.

Once more, what has Rodgers not done that Brady has?

Editor's Note: This post was written by Elisha Twerski, who gained a bit of internet fame this past week by tweeting out a rather incredible Rodgers stat that was then referenced by Pro Football Talk and acknowledged in an article at the Wisconsin State Journal by Jason Wilde. From that article: