Comparing the Stats

It’s not just that Rodgers is an MVP candidate, again, or that his team is probably the one nobody wants to face right now. It’s that consistently and without nearly as much recognition as deserved, Rodgers is the NFL’s best player.

For many, the MVP is about stats and winning. If you have just one you’re either a solid player on a great team or an elite star putting up points in garbage time. You need both things to nab the award for the league’s best player.

So let’s compare the stats with some of the other MVP QBs:

Chart via NFL.com

As we can see from the chart above, the three are all truly neck-and-neck if you take Brady’s sample size into account. Rodgers and Ryan are nearly identical in fact with the two trading off who leads what category. And while none of these three would be classified as a running quarterback, Rodgers still managed quite a nice total of yards and touchdowns just to add to the resume that tell an important part of the story of his season.

Now let’s narrow it down a bit. Brady of course had another terrific season and his 28 touchdowns to just two interceptions marked the best ratio in a season and certainly nothing to discount. But the four games missed also cannot be ignored and the team’s 3–1 record without Brady also speaks to some degree.

So we’re down to Rodgers and Ryan — two deserving candidates with nearly identical stats. To distinguish, let’s look at records. The Packers ended 10–6 to the Falcons 11–5; another nearly identical stat. So, which is more impressive?

It’s Green Bay’s 10–6. Easy.

Atlanta led their division for much of the year. Although there was a scare from the Tampa Bay Bucs, they had it in the bag with relative ease. The Packers, on the other hand, had a tale of two halves with a four game skid followed by a six game win-streak to end the year.

Rodgers’ performance, even in the skid where his team was the one letting him, down was truly that of an MVP. Sure, you can make the argument that an MVP would have been able to still command his team to wins in any of those games. However, when your supporting cast is down to a wide receiver at running back and pass catchers getting no separation (and for those of you thinking a sub-100% Jordy Nelson, oft-injured Randall Cobb and stone-handed Davante Adams is an elite bunch, think again) and a defense unable to stop anyone, literally anyone, Rodgers’ gets a pass.