Rodgers’ Milestone 400th Touchdown Came in Flow of Offense

GREEN BAY, Wis. – With the Green Bay Packers rolling, it felt inevitable that Aaron Rodgers’ 400th career touchdown pass would come at some point on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.

However, whether it was game-planning or play-calling, it wasn’t on coach Matt LaFleur’s mind.

“Nope. And I don’t want to be,” he said after a 30-16 victory. “I don’t want it to impact a decision that we’re going to make. I just think the ultimate goal is winning. Those milestones, they’re going to come. It’s always about winning, first and foremost.”

It wasn’t on Rodgers’ mind as he stepped to the line of scrimmage trying to extend a 14-3 lead midway through the third quarter.

“When you’re in the flow of the game, it just kind of comes to you,” Rodgers said. “It’s a very narrow focus. Literally, I’m just looking at my keys.”

And, as he jogged out to the left side of the formation, it wasn’t on Adams’ mind that he was about to be on the receiving end of history.

“Definitely wasn’t anticipating pre-snap that I was going to get the ball,” Adams said, “but Mr. Rodgers liked what he saw and gave me an opportunity, so I had to make sure I came through for him.”

Rodgers became the seventh player in NFL history to throw 400 touchdown passes. For Rodgers, the milestone came in Game No. 193. Drew Brees had been the fastest to 400, doing it in 205 games.

Jet-sweep motion by Allen Lazard made the Eagles’ defense shift to the right and cornerback Darius Slay back up a couple steps. Rodgers faked the ball to Lazard and fired a ball to Adams at the line of scrimmage.

“My keys were leveraging the two defenders to the left side pre-snap and then what happened in the split-second between Allen motioning and me calling for the ball,” Rodgers said. “Just felt good about the matchup over there and the fact that with the fly motion, you’re getting a lot of guys on the other side of the hash and Davante would basically have a one-on-one with space to try to get to the end zone.”

Adams greeted Slay with a stiff-arm at the 6 and refused to be taken down until he scored.

“I got a rule with myself that I’m in big trouble with Davante if I’m outside the 5 and into the 5-yard line and I don’t get in the end zone,” Adams said. “Really, I just blacked out. It was close to a facemask, too. Sorry to Slay on that if I twisted his neck by grabbing his facemask, but I kind of just blacked out and said, ‘Take this to the end zone, man. This is a big one for the team and it’s even bigger for 12.’”

Adams got up to celebrate, then dropped to his knees and handed him the ball to Rodgers before they embraced. It was the 52nd career touchdown connection for one of the league’s most lethal duos.

“It was a cool moment to throw it to him,” Rodgers said. “He did all the work.”

On the all-time touchdown list, Tampa Bay’s Tom Brady is first with 569, followed by Brees’ 565, Peyton Manning’s 539, Brett Favre’s 5-8, Dan Marino’s 420 and Philip Rivers’ 415. Brady, Brees and Rivers are still slinging it, as is Rodgers.

“I am proud, obviously, of the 400th, Rodgers said. “I’m glad I got the ball. I’m going to hold onto that one. Now, I’m going to see if I can get to 500 before I throw 100 picks.”

With 400 touchdowns vs. 88 interceptions, Rodgers will have to throw 100 more touchdowns before tossing a dozen picks, at work a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 9.1 to 1. This season, Rodgers has 36 touchdowns vs. four interceptions, a 9-to-1 mark.