Old Film Helps Rodgers Win Third MVP
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Timing is everything, even for a legend such as Aaron Rodgers.
The Green Bay Packers’ quarterback won his third NFL Most Valuable Player Award during Saturday’s NFL Honors due in large part to watching some film that predates his first two MVP triumphs.
After a slow start to training camp, Rodgers got rolling. On Aug. 24, he pointed to a film clip from the 2010 season. He expounded on that during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show a couple days after the season-ending loss to Tampa Bay in the NFC Championship Game.
“The key that I saw was just the rhythm in my hitch,” Rodgers said. “I was realizing the thing that I was working on back then so much was the sinking into the hitch at the top of my drop and that was one area that I think that was lacking based on my injury and some of the adjustments I had to make fundamentally to deal with a knee and a leg that just wasn't as strong as it used to be.
“And that’s part of the reason why I really got back into squatting, was because I wanted to build that thing up so I could put a ton of weight and pressure into that knee and those legs, because the deeper I was sinking into my hitches, the more on time I was throwing the ball. I really just saw how much of an emphasis I was doing that in 2010, 2009, 2011, and what that was allowing me to do was I was throwing the ball on time and all these games I was watching, my timing was very, very good.”
Rodgers’ timing was impeccable, in more ways than one. With a turn-back-the-clock type of season coming after the team presumably drafted his successor in Jordan Love in April, the team has recommitted to Rodgers as its quarterback for today and many tomorrows.
In his acceptable speech, he thanked his teammates for their contributions and the coaches for keeping the season fun. And, in oh-by-the-way fashion, he announced he's engaged.
“It’s an honor to win this award for a third time,” Rodgers said. “2020 was definitely a crazy year, filled with lots of change, growth, some amazing, memorable moments. 180 straight days of having my nose hair scraped. A plan for very little fans or no fans the entire season. I got engaged. And I played some of the best football in my career.”
In 2020, Rodgers led the NFL in passer rating and completion percentage. His 121.5 passer rating was the second-best in NFL history behind only his 122.5 from 2011, when he won his first MVP. With a completion rate of 70.7 percent, he led the league in that category for the first time in his career.
Rodgers joined Steve Young as the only quarterbacks in the Super Bowl era and Young and Sammy Baugh as the only quarterbacks since at least 1940 to lead the NFL in completion percentage, touchdown percentage and interception percentage.
A model of efficiency, Rodgers won his first MVP since 2014. The six-year gap is the third-longest between MVPs behind Tom Brady, who won his second in 2010 and third in 2017, and Jim Brown, who won his second in 1958 and third in 1965.
Rodgers joins Peyton Manning (five), Brown, Brady, Johnny Unitas and Brett Favre (three apiece) as the only players in NFL history to win at least three MVPs.
“Obviously, growing up and being a big Niners fan first, but then a big Favre fan once Joe (Montana) and Steve retired, watching Brett do it three straight years in the ‘90s was incredible, and something that will probably never be done again,” Rodgers said on Favre’s SiriusXM NFL Radio show.
“I mean, legitimately. To be able to dominate like that for an extended time and to win three in a row is just kind of unheard of. To be able to join that group would be really special. And a lot of times people will talk about, like, ‘I don’t want to talk about awards,’ or whatnot. I just don’t really subscribe to that. We’re competitors first, and getting recognition for what we do is special and it feels good. To be able to win that for a third time, (it) would be really special to join that group of names.”
Rodgers finished the season with 48 touchdown passes – the fifth-most in NFL history. The accuracy was startling after he completed 62.3 percent of his passes in 2018 and 62.0 percent in 2019.
He closed the season by throwing four touchdowns vs. five incompletions in a victory at Chicago.
“The MVP should be locked up,” star receiver Davante Adams, who led the NFL with 18 touchdown receptions, said after that game. “There’s nothing else to really talk about. You look at what we’ve done and what he’s been able to do, and they’ve hit him with everything. Said he didn’t have any weapons, and we go out there and go 13-3 regular season. It’s a hell of an accomplishment.
“I could talk all day about his MVP push and all of that, but I think he’s allowed his play to step up and do that. Yeah, it’s pretty clear to me who the MVP of the season is. And it’s going to be a person who’s won a couple of them before.”
A captain of consistency, Rodgers posted a 100-plus passer rating in a record 14 games. He had three-plus touchdown passes in 12 games, tied with Brady (2007 with the Patriots) for most in a season.
Despite attempting 47 fewer passes than last year, Rodgers had 19 more completion, 297 more yards and 22 more touchdowns. His completion percentage went from 62.0 to 70.7, his yards per attempt soared from 7.0 to 8.2, and his passer rating rocketed from 95.4 to 121.5. His 48 touchdown passes weren’t far off from his combined total of 51 in 2018 and 2019.
For Rodgers, who turned 37 in December, the success was rooted in the sink that put him in sync with his receivers. He played through a significant knee injury in 2018, which impacted the way he played. Thanks to some decade-old film and the lower-body strength derived from increased squatting in the weight room, he got himself back into form in 2020.
“In my opinion, it has made a big difference,” Rodgers said before the playoff game against the Rams, “and it’s shown up I think in the balance I’ve had in the pocket that’s allowed me to throw the ball on time. If I throw it on time, I’ve been pretty accurate over my career. That’s what I point to, a big factor in the increased completion percentage. And if I throw the ball on time, you don’t need to move around or scramble to keep things alive. There’s been a lot more balls thrown on time, the balance has been better, the legs have felt really good and I’ve been off the injury report all year, too.”
Combined with added comfort with coach Matt LaFleur and in LaFleur’s offensive system, Rodgers got rolling from the get-go.
He threw for 364 yards and four touchdowns in Week 1 against Minnesota and had 13 touchdowns vs. zero interceptions in his first four games. After a dreadful performance at Tampa Bay, he posted eight consecutive games with passer ratings of greater than 108. Only his 11-game streak in 2011 is longer in NFL history.
“Literally, the entire route tree and concepts, I was able to perfectly hitch to them and that's why I feel like I was so accurate,” he told McAfee. “From that point forward, I literally watched a few of those things and the next day went out and worked on them and things just started clicking.”
While Rodgers won the individual accolades and gained the job security he coveted, postseason success again got away from him. Even with the No. 1 seed and the lone first-round bye, Rodgers and Co. were beaten by Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Championship Game. Rodgers threw a big interception late in the first half, failed to take advantage of two takeaways by the defense and couldn’t get the ball in the end zone after driving to a first-and-goal at the 8 in the final minutes.
“I’m definitely going to look back years from now with a lot of pride about the way I played and the steps I took throughout the season to put myself in a position, kind of going back to March and April,” Rodgers said when asked late in the year if this was his best season. “I’m very proud of the regular season. Best season, let’s wait and see how this run turns out.”
