Aaron Rodgers Continues MVP Pace with Huge Game vs. Eagles

According to Ryan Wood of the Green Bay Press-Gazette, Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Connor Barwin, a six-year veteran of the league, was clueless when asked how he'd go about stopping Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

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Eagles LB Connor Barwin on how to stop #Packers QB Aaron Rodgers: "I don't know. If somebody figured it out, we'd all be doing it."

— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) November 17, 2014"

Rodgers, who finished his game against the Eagles on Sunday with 341 passing yards and three scores, made his opponent look clueless on Fox's premier game of the late slate.

This was no surprise, as Rodgers' young, but achieving, career has essentially been one long highlight. Since taking over for Brett Favre as Green Bay's starting quarterback in 2008, the passer has established himself as the best thrower of all time, according to Pro Football Reference's adjusted-yards-per-pass-attempt statistic.

Rodgers, only 31 years old, also sits atop Hall of Famers in career passer rating, where he also ranks first of all time. According to The Football Database, he also is first in touchdown-interception ratio, and by a wide margin. No. 2 on the list is Tom Brady, over whom Rodgers ranks by about 42 percent.

He's always been an outstanding quarterback, but what makes 2014 especially significant is the fact that it could go down as the best season in his career. Bleacher Report's Cian Fahey compared his performance of late to that which won Green Bay a Super Bowl.

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Rodgers is doing what he did when the Packers won the Super Bowl years ago, but he seems to be extending it through a regular season too.

— Cian O'Fathaigh (@Cianaf) November 16, 2014"

Even non-NFL members of the sports media world took notice of his play on Sunday, including Fox Sport's Bruce Feldman and Hall of Fame NBA player Magic Johnson, who compared the quarterback to another Hall of Famer, Larry Bird.

Aided by a quick 158-yard start in the first two drives, Rodgers willed the Packers over the Eagles in a 53-20 victory. While doing so, he managed to break a couple of records.

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Aaron Rodgers at home now has 322 consecutive attempts & 29 TDs in a row w/out an INT. Both are @NFL records

— Randall Liu (@RLiuNFL) November 17, 2014"

On film, Rodgers passes the eye test for an MVP candidate. The issue, if there is one, is that he's been pulled early in four non-competitive games this season. If Rodgers played a full 60 minutes each week, his numbers could be even more impressive than they are currently.

The California Golden Bear was taken out of these four games so far this season due to those circumstances: vs. Minnesota, a 42-10 win; vs. Carolina, a 38-17 win; vs. Chicago, a 55-14 win; and vs. Philadelphia, a 53-20 win.

It sounds strange, but if Rodgers didn't do so well early in games, his projected numbers over the course of 16 games would be even better, as long as his efficiency didn't drop due to playing a few more minutes. Against Chicago, for example, he left the field in the third quarter. With an extra quarter-and-a-half at his disposal, who knows what he could have done to the secondary which was already scorched for six touchdowns?

His current projections on ESPN place him at 4,297 yards, a 67.5 completion percentage, 44 touchdowns and only five interceptions. When Rodgers won the MVP award in 2011, he threw for 4,643 yards, had a 68.3 completion percentage, passed for 45 touchdowns and threw six interceptions. While the numbers fall slightly short of his previous award's mark, accounting for lost time, therefore volume of statistics, would place him into a position to see the debate more clearly.

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I'm certain the world moves at half speed for Aaron Rodgers. #BulletTime

— Josh Norris (@JoshNorris) November 16, 2014"

Statistically, others, such as ESPN, are already comparing the two seasons from the quarterback.

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This season is eerily reminiscent of Rodgers’ 2011 MVP season. Through 10 games that season, Rodgers averaged 317 yards per game and had a touchdown-interception ratio of 31-4. Rodgers is averaging 275 yards per game this season through 10 games and boasts a touchdown-interception ratio of 28-3. 

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Some even believe he's the front-runner for the award, as Dion Caputi, a writer for the National Football Post, stated on Sunday night. 

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Don't think there's any doubt Aaron Rodgers is the best QB in the NFL this year. Might be jinxing him in the process, but he's current MVP.

— Dion Caputi (@nfldraftupdate) November 17, 2014"

So, is Rodgers' season worthy of the MVP award? Statistically, he has put himself into the conversation with a great campaign. His film screams a big yes to the question. He's quite possibly the most talented player in the league at his position in the most important position in the league.

With a handful of games left in the season, Rodgers' trophy case's fate is in his hands. Not only for an individual award, but the Lombardi Trophy, now that Green Bay is back in control of its own destiny as a playoff team.

If Rodgers continues to perform as he has to start the season, there's no reason why either trophy should be out of reach.