Ranking Aaron Rodgers' 10 Greatest Moments as a Green Bay Packer

On Sunday Night Football in Week 8, Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers will host the Green Bay Packers. It will be the first time he has faced his former team since being traded to the New York Jets in 2023. 

Understandably, this scenario has produced a lot of takes on all sides. Rodgers insists it's "not a revenge game," while Packers coach Matt LaFleur, who coached the quarterback from 2019 to 2022, told the media: "That is for you guys to talk about." 

There's no question the fanbase's feelings toward Rodgers have shifted since he left Green Bay. And the Packers have a bright future with Jordan Love at the helm. But something about meeting up with a past love makes you reminisce on the good times. And when it comes to Rodgers and the Packers, there are many, many good times to look back on. 

What follows are Rodgers' 10 greatest moments as a Green Bay Packer: postseason heroics, midseason shot-calling, injury comebacks and statistical greatness.

Playoff games earned heavier weight than regular-season ones, but the moments collected here span Rodgers' tenure in Green Bay—15 starting seasons that produced one Lombardi Trophy, one Super Bowl MVP nod and four NFL MVP awards.

10. Fake Spike vs. Dolphins (2014)

Photo by Marc Serota/Panini

They're two of the most gifted passers in NFL history, and both boast a lightning-quick release, so it's only natural Rodgers and Dan Marino would also be connected through a memorable trick play.

In Week 6 of the 2014 season, the Packers trailed the Dolphins 24–20 with just seven seconds left in the fourth quarter when Rodgers pulled off a fake spike reminiscent of Marino's same play at the same stadium in 1994.

At the 16-yard line with no timeouts left, everyone expected Rodgers to spike the ball to stop the clock. Instead, he faked the spike and connected with Davante Adams, who stepped out of bounds at the 4-yard line to stop the clock.

With three seconds remaining, Rodgers found Andrew Quarless in the end zone on the next play to give the Packers the 27–24 win.

9. NFC North 'Championship Game' (2013)

AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

The stakes couldn't have been higher when the Packers and the Chicago Bears met in the final game of the 2013 regular season.

The 7–7–1 Packers and the 8–7 Bears each controlled their destiny; win and they were in the playoffs as the NFC North champions; lose and go home. 

To add to the drama, Rodgers had missed the previous seven games with a broken collarbone, nearly tanking Green Bay's playoff hopes. His rustiness was on display early against the Bears, as he threw two picks in the first half and fumbled the ball after a sack, although the Packers recovered the ball and subsequently scored. 

It all set the stage for the fourth-quarter flash point.

The Packers, trailing 28–27 with a little more than a minute remaining, faced fourth-and-8 from the Bears' 48-yard line. Rodgers managed to evade a blitz to find Randall Cobb, who was streaking down the left sideline, for the 48-yard score to seal the game and secure the division crown.

8. 'R-E-L-A-X' (2014)

AP Photo/Lynne Sladky

They were the five letters heard 'round the world (at least, the parts of it that follow American football). 

Green Bay had gone 1–2 to open the 2014 season, and Packers fans—who had developed lofty expectations after seeing their team make the playoffs for five straight seasons, including one Super Bowl win and another 15–1 campaign—were beginning to panic. 

Fresh off a 19–7 loss to the division-rival Detroit Lions, Rodgers had his weekly radio appearance on ESPN Milwaukee's The Aaron Rodgers Show. When asked about the team's slow start, he replied, in a voice so calm it could have been dubbed over guided meditation, "Five letters here, just for everybody out there in Packerland: R-E-L-A-X. Relax. We're going to be OK."

After he talked the talk, Rodgers walked the walk.

The Packers won 11 of their next 13 games, finished the season 12–4 and clinched their fourth straight NFC North title. Rodgers was named MVP, and the team had a shot at redemption against the Seattle Seahawks, to whom they'd lost in Week 1, in the NFC Championship Game.

What happened next, you ask? Let's not go there, shall we?

7. 'Run the Table' (2016)

AP Photo/Mark Zaleski

Packers fans were feeling good after the team started off 4-2 in the 2016 season. However, a midseason meltdown resulted in Green Bay losing four straight games, putting it with the basement-dwellers at 4–6 by late November. 

With six games remaining in the season, the Packers would have to win all of them to have any hope of making the playoffs. Given their play thus far that season, it was a long shot. But not to Rodgers. During a media availability, he uttered another quote that would prove to be as prophetic as "R-E-L-A-X."

"I feel like we can run the table," Rodgers said. "I really do."

The Packers proceeded to go on a tear, winning six straight, which was good enough to wrench the NFC North crown from the Detroit Lions in a winner-take-all regular-season finale. During that run, the signal-caller had 15 touchdowns and zero interceptions. 

Like "R-E-L-A-X," "Run the Table" became a defining moment of the Rodgers era in Green Bay.

6. 3rd-and-20 (2017 Divisional Round)

AP Photo/Ron Jenkins

Following "Run the Table," the Packers met the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC divisional round in January 2017. 

Early on, it seemed likely that Green Bay's magical run would continue. In the first half, the Cowboys trailed by 18; by the start of the fourth quarter, they were still in a 15-point hole. However, a late rally saw Dallas tie the score twice at 28–28 and again at 31–31. 

With 35 seconds remaining on the clock, Rodgers and the Packers had one chance to put the game away in regulation.

After an incompletion and a sack, Green Bay faced third-and-20 at its own 38 with 12 seconds left. Rodgers uncorked a deep pass to Jared Cook for 36 yards to set up Mason Crosby's game-winning field goal.

The Packers punched their ticket to the NFC Championship Game against the Atlanta Falcons where they finally ran out of road.

5. Miracle in Motown (2015)

AP Photo/Paul Sancya

Every Packers fan remembers where they were on December 3, 2015. And none will ever admit to having turned off the game in the third quarter after the Detroit Lions had gone up 20–0 on Green Bay, though surely many did. 

After all, who would willingly admit they missed what happened next? Rodgers engineered a 20-point comeback that put him in position to pull off the play that would go on to earn NFL Play of the Year honors.

On 3rd-and-10 with six seconds left on the clock, Green Bay had cut the deficit to 23–21. An attempt at a series of lateral passes saw Rodgers again holding the ball with no one to throw to and no time left, but Lions defensive end Devin Taylor was called for grabbing the QB's face mask, giving the Packers an untimed down at their own 39-yard line. 

Rodgers, who had never successfully completed a Hail Mary at that point, knew he had to scramble outside the pocket to give his receivers enough time to get downfield. He planted his foot and launched the ball toward the end zone, where tight end Richard Rodgers, the last player to reach the scrum, leapt into the air and came down with the 61-yard reception.

An instant classic was born.

4. Breaking Favre's TD Record (2021)

AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps

Rodgers had played 211 games and logged 204 starts when he threw his 443rd career touchdown pass in 2021. It was a simple play: double-stick, one of the first concepts he learned as a rookie. It went for 11 yards before finding Allen Lazard in the end zone.

As soon as the ball was in his hands, Lazard knew he had just made history. He had caught the touchdown that gave Rodgers the new franchise record, surpassing Brett Favre's mark of 442.

Speaking of Favre, a prerecorded video message appeared on the Lambeau Field scoreboard. In it, Favre congratulated Rodgers and told him to "go get us another Super Bowl."

Rodgers wasn't able to deliver the latter before the Packers traded him to the New York Jets—just like his predecessor—in April 2023. But the franchise-record 475 touchdowns he left behind will be difficult for anyone to top.

3. Injury and Comeback vs. Bears (2018)

AP Photo/David Banks

The Packers hosted the Bears to open the 2018 season, and things quickly went from bad to catastrophic.

With just under 10 minutes remaining in the first half, the Packers had fallen into a 10–0 hole. Then, on 3rd-and-9, Rodgers was sacked by defensive end Roy Robertson-Harris and was slow to get up.

Cue the collective breath-holding.

Rodgers rose to his feet, began walking…and crumpled to the ground. Packers fans watched in horror as their star quarterback was carted off the field hours into the 2018 NFL season. 

By halftime, the score was 17–0, and the Packers' season looked to be in jeopardy. Then Rodgers, who was still in uniform but wearing a ballcap, jogged back onto the field for the second half. Lambeau erupted in a standing ovation. He put on his helmet and got to work. 

"When I got the ovation, at that point, I said, 'We might as well win this thing,'" Rodgers told the media after the Packers did just that.

The Packers wiped out a 20-point deficit to win 24-23. At the time, it was the second-largest comeback in franchise history at home.

2. Torching Falcons in 2010 Divisional Round 

AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

The 2010 Packers were inevitable. They entered the postseason as the NFC's No. 6 seed and dispatched the No. 3 Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card Round before meeting the No. 1 seed Atlanta Falcons at the Georgia Dome in the divisional round.

Early on, the Falcons capitalized on a recovered fumble and a 102-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Just before halftime, the game was tied at 14. After that, the Packers scored 35 unanswered points and never punted.

Rodgers went 31-of-36 for 366 yards and three touchdowns along with a rushing touchdown. But his excellence that night went beyond the numbers.

He used his mobility to evade pressure. His timing, ball placement and decision-making were flawless. He willed the Packers into the Super Bowl. Speaking of which…

1. Super Bowl XLV MVP

Was there ever any question Rodgers would be named MVP of Super Bowl XLV? After putting the team on his back and carrying them there, he ensured all the fight the underdog Packers had displayed through that postseason was not in vain. 

Again, the stats are excellent. Rodgers went 24-of-39 for 304 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. But the greatness truly came alive under the eye test.

Green Bay opened things up with a nine-play, 80-yard scoring drive ending in Rodgers' 29-yard touchdown pass to Jordy Nelson. Safety Nick Collins' interception return for a touchdown gave the Packers a 14–0 lead.

Rodgers kept the offense humming from there, finding his favorite target that season, Greg Jennings, for a 21-yard touchdown late in the first half. 

In the second half, the quarterback converted on a third-and-10 with a 38-yard pass to Nelson. On that same drive, he found Jennings in the end zone again to increase the lead to 28–17.

After the Packers got the ball back, Rodgers found Jennings for 31 yards on another third-and-10, and Mason Crosby's 23-yard field goal put the Packers up 31-25 with just over two minutes left.

Cue "I'm going to Disney World!"