“MVP should be locked up. There’s nothing else to really talk about.”
Green Bay Packers wide receiver Davante Adams didn’t mince words when asked who the Most Valuable Player should be following Sunday’s season finale win over the Chicago Bears.
If there was any uncertainty about the MVP race this year, Aaron Rodgers left no doubt against the Bears at Soldier Field. Rodgers completed 19 of 24 passes for 240 yards and also threw four touchdowns and finished with a passer rating of 147.9. In helping his team improve to a 13-3 record for the second year in a row, Rodgers was the driving force in locking up the top seed in NFC and clinching a first-round bye in the playoffs.
After many wondered if Rodgers’ play was declining after a failure of a year in 2018 and an uncharacteristic performance numbers in 2019, the 37-year-old quarterback proved he still has MVP years left in him. Following his second year in Matt LaFleur’s system, Rodgers posted career-highs in completion percentage and touchdowns.
With the 2020 regular season officially wrapped up, Rodgers’ numbers look like this: 70.7 completion percentage, 4,299 yards, 48 passing touchdowns, three rushing touchdowns, five interceptions, and a 121.5 passer rating. The latter just missed his NFL-record mark set in 2011 at 122.5.
Rodgers was awarded his first MVP in 2011 and his second in 2014. Many consider his 2011 campaign to be his most dominant. He threw for 4,643 yards, 45 touchdowns, 6 interceptions, and also rushed for three touchdowns. This was also done in only 15 games. Rodgers sat out the regular-season finale that year with the number one seed already in hand.
If you missed it, Zach Kruse of Packers Wire compared this season to his numbers in 2011 earlier this week.
Rodgers’ 2011 season was assuredly one of the greatest seasons from any quarterback in NFL history. However, 2020 can’t be far behind. Rodgers set a new franchise record for passing touchdowns and will most likely shatter many other Packers’ passing records before it’s all said and done.
It appears to be a three-man race for this year’s MVP trophy between Rodgers, Josh Allen, and Patrick Mahomes. Allen capped off his season with a three-touchdown performance in a dominating 56-25 win over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. The Buffalo Bills starting quarterback has a strong case this year, throwing for a franchise-record of 4,544 yards, 46 total touchdowns, and 10 interceptions.
Mahomes did not play in Week 17. Much like Rodgers’ situation from 2011, the Kansas City Chiefs had no reason to risk injury with the top seed secured. In 2020, Mahomes didn’t quite reach Rodgers’ totals in 15 games but still had quite a showing. He finished with 4,780 yards and 40 total touchdowns to six interceptions.
However, the award isn’t supposed to go to who has the best numbers despite that often being the case. The MVP is meant for whoever is most valued by their respective team. Rodgers fits that bill better than anyone else.
“They’ve hit him with everything,” Adams said of Rodgers. “(They) said that he doesn’t have any weapons, and then we go out here and go 13-3 in the regular season, which isn’t our end goal, obviously, but it’s a hell of an accomplishment. Especially in your second year under a new staff, so it says a lot about him.”
If Rodgers were to win his third NFL MVP, it would put him in some elite company. He would join Jim Brown, Johnny Unitas, Brett Favre, Tom Brady, and Peyton Manning as the only players to win the award at least three times. Over the last couple of weeks, Rodgers has talked about how much the award would mean to him, and it certainly feels like it should be his to lose.
While individual accolades can and should be celebrated, Green Bay has a much larger goal in mind, and it would entail ending a remarkable season in Tampa Bay.