Welcome to the fifth edition of the weekly article that compares Brett Favre's and Aaron Rodgers' performances over each game.
Last week was a no-brainer. Brett Favre's six touchdown passes was enough to give him a 3-1 lead on his heir to the Packers' throne, Aaron Rodgers. The B/R community strongly agreed with my choice of Favre, as Rodgers stumbled with three interceptions.
In week five, the New York Jets had a bye week. To make the scoring even, and make sure each quarterback gets the same amount of chances to win, I will award the quarterback that IS playing on the others' off week a win.
Example: This week, the Packers played, the Jets did not. Therefore, Rodgers wins week five. Week eight, the Jets play, the Packers do not. Therefore, Favre will win week eight. So it all evens out.
However, that will not stop me from praising and criticizing each player.
Week Five
Green Bay Packers 24
Atlanta Falcons 27
Aaron Rodgers: 25-37 313 yds, 3 TDs, 1 INT
The Good
Rodgers rebounded from a dismal performance last week in Tampa Bay. He once again showed off his accuracy and chemistry with his wide receivers. He connected with both Donald Driver and Greg Jennings for long touchdowns, and throwing for 300 yards is always a plus.
The Green Bay defense played poorly and forced Rodgers to make plays and win the game. It looked like he was about to pull the Packers out of a 2-3 start, until he tossed his fourth pick of the year.
The Bad
The Packers got off to a slow start. The Falcons jumped out to an early lead on them, forcing the Packers to play from behind for the entire game. Rodgers' offense started the game with two consecutive three and outs. He turned it around sharply and played well.
His interception cost the Packers at the end, but the game had been lost way before that.
Brett Favre
The Jets had a bye week.
The Pick: Aaron Rodgers
Rodgers wins by default. However, if Favre had played this week, he would have needed to play an excellent game to steal this win from Rodgers. I don't like to think of this as a free win for Rodgers, as he played a great game against a decent Atlanta Falcons team.
Final Thoughts
Rodgers has shown us all that he is ready to lead. In four of five games, he has given the Packers the chance to win. He has done his part for his team. The rest of them must respond to his high level of play, or the Packers are in for a rough season.
Next week the Packers play the Seattle Seahawks, while the Jets play host to the lowly Bengals.
14 comments Last one added 9 months ago — Leave a Comment
J W 9 months ago
Rodgers is still holding the ball and reading only a portion of the field. His TD to driver was into extreme double coverage by the time the ball actually got there and it was just lucky that Driver came down with it. That INT was a killer!... another thing I noticed is the balls were often going to receivers who had defenders very near them, whereas Atlanta was constantly hitting receivers with few defenders around them. So, was that their defense playing better than ours... or their QB making better choices? Probably a bit of each. Look, Rodgers has performed better than I expected... but, still significantly worse than Brett Favre would... he is no weapon to truly be feared yet by any means. His stats are a bit inflated by the fact that he holds the ball so much and doesnt even get a pass off on many passing occasions (for it to even become a potential incompletion). In close games, like this, Favre's experience, vision, and quick release absolutely could have changed an L into a W. I can't stand Ted Thompson, I absolutely believe he robbed us of success this season!
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Zach Kruse 9 months ago
Brett Favre or no Brett Favre, the Packers would still be 2-3.
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David Arreola 9 months ago
I don't know about 2-3.
Favre would have won the game in Tampa and I am pretty sure he would have cut open the Falcons defense. 4-1 or at the very least 3-2.
Rodgers has played well, its the rest of the team that is playing bad. Namely the defense. What happened to one of the best pass defenses in the NFL, oh yeah it went with Al Harris.
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Zach Kruse 9 months ago
are you kidding me? Favre doesn't win the game in Tampa. If Rodgers threw 3 picks, who knows how many Favre would have had. Even Favre doesn't win games when you get that poor of pass protection and run game. And cut open the Falcon's defense? Thats exactly what Rodgers did and we still lost. So there you go, we're still 2-3. You made my point by same that Rodgers has played well and that the rest of the team hasn't.
Again, Favre or no Favre, Pack is still 2-3.
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David Arreola 9 months ago
Zach, if Favre was a great quarterback I can understand you thinking we would be 2-3. Thing is, Favre is Favre. The man redefined "wingin it." To think that he would play on the same level as Aaron Rodgers in HIS offense is hard to believe. You've forgotten Favre's magic so quickly. Last year Favre led the Packers to a 7-1 start WITHOUT a running game to even be heard of. Wasn't until midseason that Ryan Grant came onto the scene. Favre hasn't lost a step since last season, hard to believe he would need a running game this year. Poor pass protection is something every quarterback except Peyton Manning has to deal with. So no excuses there.
Of course non of this talk matters. As Rodgers is the Packers quarterback and the Packers are 2-3. Favre is the Jets quarterback and the Jets are 2-2.
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Ed Wesley 9 months ago
I can tell from your comments that you know ABSOLUTELY nothing about football. Holding the ball too long, are you kidding me, you are a moron. His line is giving him about 2 seconds to throw the ball unless he rolls out. Favre is the king of interceptions and he probably loses the Vikiing game too. Remember, this is a team game and the O line and defense are playing much worse than last year which has nothing to do with QB play. You are still an old man Brett Favre kiss but. My bet is that the old fart doesn't make it through the season. A few more loses and we get to see his pathetic poor me face again on the sidelines. Since he is the epitome of an "I" and not team member, things are going to get ugly. And hey, here is a suggestion, next time you write something, try to sound intelligent. The line about holding the ball too long so he doesn't make an incompletion is absurd!!!
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David Arreola 9 months ago
Ed, take a chill pill bro.
Brett Favre is old. We all know that. He is also leading the NFL in touchdown passes even after a bye week.
In J's defense, saying Brett Favre won't finish the season is a very unintelligent thing to say. As he has never missed a start in his career.
Everyone as a right to their own opinion. J thinks Rodgers holds onto it too long. Let him think that. I think you are a bitter vikings, bears or lions fan. Let me think that.
In the end football is all about two things.
Blocking and tackling.
The Packers are doing neither, so we have lost.
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MJ Kasprzak 9 months ago
Like Favre didn't do that ALL THE FREAKIN' TIME! That's why he has thrown almost 300 interceptions.
I'm so tired of all this Rodgers bashing. IT IS ABSOLUTELY ABSURD THAT 75% OF PEOPLE ARE SAYING FAVRE HAD A BETTER WEEK WHEN HE DIDN'T PLAY THAN A GUY WHO THREW FOR 313 YARDS AND HAD ONLY ONE PICK AGAINST THREE TOUCHDOWNS. It shows that people are not at all rational on that side of the fence.
Rodgers is playing better than Favre did last year (look at the season to date--it's a FACT, not an opinion). He has played well enough to win in all but one game. While I agree that the loss in Tampa was not Rodgers fault--one pick was Jackson's fault for dropping it, another he was hit as he threw--I will say we don't know if Favre could have won us that one, or might have lost us another. Rodgers had ZERO negative plays against the Vikings, and that was WHY we won. Favre would have forced one bad pass or taken a sack because his legs don't get him free or something, and that has at least as much chance of making that FIVE POINT game a loss as Rodgers instead of Favre in Tampa made a difference in a NINE POINT GAME.
And the idea that Thompson robbed us of this season, well, sorry--Rodgers has played as well as Favre most weeks. Yes he has a better receiving corps, even with the injuries, but he has a lower quality line. Thompson made a choice between two more years with Favre and a career with Rodgers. We have a lot more chance of winning one or more titles with the latter, no matter how much your love of Favre biases things. Hate him if you want to, but you show your lack of objectivity because you will sing a different tune when Rodgers makes multiple Pro Bowls while keeping us contending for titles until 2020.
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David Arreola 9 months ago
MJ, reguarding the poll i'm sure it is a joke.
I'm not sure who your comment was to, but I did not bash Rodgers at all in this article or in my comments. I am merely stateing Favre is better. Not that Rodgers is bad.
Your right, Favre did lose games for us. yet he also won more games for us than any quarterback in NFL history.
I'm sick of discussing what record the Packers would have if Favre were here. Its obvious Packer nation is not even close to getting over the loss of Favre. Rodgers is a good quarterback. I would love for him to keep playing for us. Problem is, Favre is still in the NFL. As long as Favre is playing, Rodgers will never be free from the shadow.
Hats off to Aaron Rodgers, no man in NFL history has had to deal with this. You've handeled yourself well.
I'd like to clear something up with you, MJ.
I love Brett Favre as much as the next Packer fan. I have nothing against Aaron Rodgers. My problem is with Ted Thompson ONLY. It is unfortunate that Rodgers has to be where he is. So you can claim I am biased in my picks, but i assure you i am not. Here is my priorities
1) The game of Football
2) Green Bay Packers
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David Arreola 9 months ago
I like how 76% of my voters chose Favre as the winner this week. lol.
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Doug Dwyer 9 months ago
Rodgers throwing was excellent this week. I liked that he finally forced it, by throwing to Driver in double coverage for a TD. Rodger nimble feet from the first two games seemed to have vanished. He is getting hit a lot and taking sacks. He also missed a wide open Jennings on a scrambe that could have change the entire game.
Aaron Rodgers has great accurcy as shown by his completion percentage and TD to INT ration. I think game planning needs to improve as well as costly penalties on offense. No first downs in an entire quarter is always going to kill your defensive unit. What happened to the 5 wide receiver sets from last year? With all the talent on the GB receiving corp, it would cause match up problems for every defense. Last year's running game never got going until Brett started lighting up defenses with the long ball threat.
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David Arreola 9 months ago
I like how you mentioned game planning. As fans we tend to underestimate the importance of game planning. In the NFL it is the key to success. The reason so many four and five wide sets were used is because that is Favre's prefered formation. Favre's philosophy is the more targets the better. Rodgers has three maybe four options every play. Also, i don't think Rodgers has yet learned how to read complicated NFL defensive packages. So he needs as much time to throw as possible, without the confusion of five wide sets.
Thanks for the comment
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Justin Luey 9 months ago
I think Rodgers has great potential and its too bad he is such a difficult decision. The Green Bay Packers would be a far better team this year with Favre at quarterback. Green Bay management is to blame for all of this, they should have figured out a way to bring Favre back for 1 or 2 more years and hold on to Rodgers. If that could have been accomplished everyone would be better off including Rodgers. Can you imagine how popular he'd be, if he came out and said "I'm dedicated to this team, and I'm happy to keep learning behind Favre". If he and the team and taken this route, his first year as quarterback would have been so much easier, now he has to be compared to Favre each week, a competition he has no chance of winning.
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David Arreola 9 months ago
Right on Justin.
Thompson doomed Rodgers' "legacy" with this trade. At least if Favre retired Rodgers could lose the shadow. Now it will always be there. Unfortunate for Rodgers.
Thanks for the comment
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