No. 4 – Aaron Rodgers (7-5)
This time last week, Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers appeared to be a quarterback heading down the same path as Peyton Manning. Yes, he’s won it all, but half of his playoff starts to that point had led to one-and-done results.
With a road win over the Washington Redskins, Rodgers swung the pendulum back to the positive and (for the time being) catapulted him above Manning in these rankings. A loss would have put him at 6-6 with his fourth early exit in seven trips. For the time being, Rodgers has kept the wolves at bay.
It wasn’t so long ago that we thought Rodgers might follow the path of Tom Brady and other all-time greats. In his second trip to the playoffs as a starter, Rodgers won it all, including a Super Bowl MVP. But since that time he is 3-4. He’s put up good numbers, mostly, but hasn’t found a way to come out on top.
His 100.3 career playoff passer rating is second on this list only to Alex Smith, and Rodgers has done it over three times as many games. His 25 touchdowns are second only to Brady and Peyton Manning, both of whom have played more than twice as many games as Rodgers. His 64.78 percent completion percentage is the best of the bunch.
At 32 years old, Rodgers now has a long way to go to be mentioned in the same breath as Brady or Bradshaw or Montana, but he’s not so far off from being in that next echelon of two- and three-time winners. He continues that pursuit next against Carson Palmer and the Cardinals.
