Is Aaron Rodgers better than Tom Brady?

ausbacker said:

Brady and Rodgers are playing the best football of any players in the NFL. I have no problem with people interchanging them on a weekly basis for MVP. They're both simply that good right now.

The way Brady controlled the offense against the Jets on the weekend was one of the single greatest performances I've seen him put in. The numbers weren't there but what he did with the Patriots, the running game and protection was simply outstanding.

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I think the disconnect arises out of how few kneejerk analysts in the media or on this message board grasp what Brady did this week. I believe I saw several post game comments here to the effect that Brady didn't have a particularly good day - which is the conclusion you'd come to if you don't grasp what you're looking for or at...

Rodgers has finally over the last 10 or so games dating back to last December begun to consistently perform to a level commensurate with the talent surrounding him, albeit while facing just one team with a winning record in his last 5 games. To which I'd say...good for him. He certainly has some skills, but then according to Jon Gruden so to does Jay Cutler...

What remains to be seen with Rodgers is if he can continue to perform consistently under less than ideal conditions, which he hasn't yet encountered post 2010 season. Brady has led this team in several iterations (including when defensively and offensively challenged) to 4 superbowls and the cusp of a 5th in nine seasons as it's starter. The media fueled drive to make kneejerk pronouncements based on small samples and their own overhyped projections tends to result in epic fails like annointing the Iggles the so called 2011 Dream Team...

Football is a funny game where measurable talent and athleticism and isolated highlight reel performance is admired almost to a fault while intangibles like drive and focus and smart coaching and disciplined execution and consistently good decision making and embracing hard work and accountability usually ends up trumping "talent" the final analysis. Otherwise we wouldn't have three rings won by teams from which the voting mediots will one day be hard pressed to make a case for Canton beyond their QB and HC...

MoLewisrocks said:

I think the disconnect arises out of how few kneejerk analysts in the media or on this message board grasp what Brady did this week. I believe I saw several post game comments here to the effect that Brady didn't have a particularly good day - which is the conclusion you'd come to if you don't grasp what you're looking for or at...

Rodgers has finally over the last 10 or so games dating back to last December begun to consistently perform to a level commensurate with the talent surrounding him, albeit while facing just one team with a winning record in his last 5 games. To which I'd say...good for him. He certainly has some skills, but then according to Jon Gruden so to does Jay Cutler...

What remains to be seen with Rodgers is if he can continue to perform consistently under less than ideal conditions, which he hasn't yet encountered post 2010 season. Brady has led this team in several iterations (including when defensively and offensively challenged) to 4 superbowls and the cusp of a 5th in nine seasons as it's starter. The media fueled drive to make kneejerk pronouncements based on small samples and their own overhyped projections tends to result in epic fails like annointing the Iggles the so called 2011 Dream Team...

Football is a funny game where measurable talent and athleticism and isolated highlight reel performance is admired almost to a fault while intangibles like drive and focus and smart coaching and disciplined execution and consistently good decision making and embracing hard work and accountability usually ends up trumping "talent" the final analysis. Otherwise we wouldn't have three rings won by teams from which the voting mediots will one day be hard pressed to make a case for Canton beyond their QB and HC...

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QB's who throw the ball down the field will "look" better.

Like sacks make a defense "look" better.

It's also difficult to judge based on the absense of like opponents.

pherein said:

I think thats going to happen. Only this time we will have will smith, lance moore , and tracy porter playing. Unlike the opener.
and test don't forget , we had all our RB's,TE's and way more guys on IR for that game vs seattle. We want the Packers for the NFC Championship,Packers can't beat us full health, we know that know, then we want you guys for the SB.
. Its going to happen

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I agree

I would rather play the Packers than the Saints.

Simple answer is NO, not at this point in time. One super bowl win does not a HOF QB make, it takes a career. Brady has had one and Rodgers is only at the beginning. Rodgers is very good though. Let's see how he faces adversity down the road, which will surely come eventually, whether its a diminishment of supporting personnel over time or injury.

Dessalines said:

Simple answer is NO, not at this point in time. One super bowl win does not a HOF QB make, it takes a career. Brady has had one and Rodgers is only at the beginning. Rodgers is very good though. Let's see how he faces adversity down the road, which will surely come eventually, whether its a diminishment of supporting personnel over time or injury.

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Well if were talking about CAREER accomplishments than of course it's Brady. If we're talking about RIGHT NOW then I think it's Rodgers. Facing adversity? What does that even mean? He's shredded every defense he's faced this and last season and coming off a SB win, and currently sitting at 5-0 and probably won't lose a game till Nov. What more adversity do you want?

MoLewisrocks said:

Rodgers has finally over the last 10 or so games dating back to last December begun to consistently perform to a level commensurate with the talent surrounding him, albeit while facing just one team with a winning record in his last 5 games. To which I'd say...good for him. He certainly has some skills, but then according to Jon Gruden so to does Jay Cutler...

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This is a disingenuous post. His team was decimated with injuries for most of last season--him included--so the fact that they pulled it together and won the Super Bowl is a credit to Rodgers as a leader. Never mind that he's played at a consistently high level during that time frame to present, easily rivaling the play of Tom Brady (Rodgers is statistically superior currently). He makes that offense works: you see it on every play. He buys time, makes difficult throws, and makes good decisions. It's no small wonder that his TD:INT ratio is so spectacular. The reason the Packers only have defeated sub .500 teams is because they were the team to put them there. It's only been five games. And they turned in five excellent performances offensively.

The "his team is so much more talented" mantra is getting old. Not to mention it's neither sound, nor discrediting.

SyN65 said:

Well if were talking about CAREER accomplishments than of course it's Brady. If we're talking about RIGHT NOW then I think it's Rodgers. Facing adversity? What does that even mean? He's shredded every defense he's faced this and last season and coming off a SB win, and currently sitting at 5-0 and probably won't lose a game till Nov. What more adversity do you want?

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ad·ver·si·ty
   [ad-vur-si-tee]

noun, plural -ties for 2.
1. adverse fortune or fate; a condition marked by misfortune, calamity, or distress: A friend will show his or her true colors in times of adversity.

2. an adverse or unfortunate event or circumstance: You will meet many adversities in life.

5-0 isn't adversity. Adversity is when you've had a gut check game, where you scratched and clawed but still came up short. And then you looked yourself hard in the mirror, fixed what went wrong, got yourself right, then come out the next game and got the big win. Success is easy. Adversity truly tests a person and a team.

VJCPatriot said:

ad·ver·si·ty
   [ad-vur-si-tee]

noun, plural -ties for 2.
1. adverse fortune or fate; a condition marked by misfortune, calamity, or distress: A friend will show his or her true colors in times of adversity.

2. an adverse or unfortunate event or circumstance: You will meet many adversities in life.

5-0 isn't adversity. Adversity is when you've had a gut check game, where you scratched and clawed but still came up short. And then you looked yourself hard in the mirror, fixed what went wrong, got yourself right, then come out the next game and got the big win. Success is easy. Adversity truly tests a person and a team.

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Like when they were down 14-0 on the road against a quality interconference team and came back to win?

VJCPatriot said:

ad·ver·si·ty
   [ad-vur-si-tee]

noun, plural -ties for 2.
1. adverse fortune or fate; a condition marked by misfortune, calamity, or distress: A friend will show his or her true colors in times of adversity.

2. an adverse or unfortunate event or circumstance: You will meet many adversities in life.

5-0 isn't adversity. Adversity is when you've had a gut check game, where you scratched and clawed but still came up short. And then you looked yourself hard in the mirror, fixed what went wrong, got yourself right, then come out the next game and got the big win. Success is easy. Adversity truly tests a person and a team.

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Oh God, I know what adversity meant I was just being sarcastic.

Rodgers just faced "adversity" two days ago, Packers were down 14 points on the road and scored 25 straight to win the game. Or how about when the Packers were in the playoffs against the Cardinals and it was a shoot out and Rodgers did everything he could to keep up with Warner, ultimately failing because of a non-call face mask?

Our boy Brady hasn't exactly been Mr. Adversity lately what with two straight embarrassing playoff losses. At this point the criticism should be on him and not on Rodgers, imo.

Disclaimer: I'm a huge Rodgers fan so forgive me if I'm coming off as Packers fan boy here. :rocker:

the packers are playing well...but honestly IMO the steelers were a weak superbowl team last year...the packers clearly were the better team.

thats why it stings so much that the Jets knocked us out. because I believe we wouldve beaten the steelers and at least made the superbowl if we made it past them

Trey said:

This is a disingenuous post. His team was decimated with injuries for most of last season--him included--so the fact that they pulled it together and won the Super Bowl is a credit to Rodgers as a leader. Never mind that he's played at a consistently high level during that time frame to present, easily rivaling the play of Tom Brady (Rodgers is statistically superior currently). He makes that offense works: you see it on every play. He buys time, makes difficult throws, and makes good decisions. It's no small wonder that his TD:INT ratio is so spectacular. The reason the Packers only have defeated sub .500 teams is because they were the team to put them there. It's only been five games. And they turned in five excellent performances offensively.

The "his team is so much more talented" mantra is getting old. Not to mention it's neither sound, nor discrediting.

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I didn't realize one game now equals three loses. Absent the games, Packers opponents are 10-10, Patriots opponents are 12-7.

Besides, who is saying the Packers are so much more talented?

Also, ya might want to review stats and look up "superior".

Dumb question. He isn't even as good as Drew Brees. The Packers are the better team overall though. Their defense makes up the difference.

RIpats88 said:

the packers are playing well...but honestly IMO the steelers were a weak superbowl team last year...the packers clearly were the better team.

thats why it stings so much that the Jets knocked us out. because I believe we wouldve beaten the steelers and at least made the superbowl if we made it past them

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I agree with this.

The Steelers are old on defense, they showed it in the last few games of the regular season last year, the playoffs, the Superbowl and it's continuing now. If the refs had called the Tuck Rule on Sanchez in that Steelers/Jets game, The Jets (I hate to say it) would probably be the champs right now.

The Packers are the most overrated team and especially QB, I've ever seen and I thought the Eagles and Mike Vick were real overrated.

Atlanta sucks, this is a team who let Jay Cutler, the Eagles and Seattle score nearly 30 pts. Rodgers is trash for even struggling against them in the 1st place. He hasn't beaten any defense worthy of the media over-hyping him like this. Just because Brady sucked against the Jets last year in the playoffs it doesn't mean he worse than Rodgers. The Jets were a good defense last year and confused him, The Ravens... were a very good defense the previous year. Rodgers stunk the joint up bad against the Bears in the championship game, however, he got a defense to keep him in it. Brady can't afford to make mistakes playing with a 30-32 ranked defense all the time against great AFC defenses.

Rodgers playing those scrub teams in the NFC playoffs is a JOKE. Him being the future or the best QB in the league right now is a joke. I can name 5 better than him or just as good as he is. If I had to make Rodgers a top 5 QB is only due to lack of good QBs in the league.

1.Brady
2.Brees
3.Stafford
4.Fitzpatrick (I hate to admit it)
5. E.Manning (He sucks but he's no worse than Rodgers.)

He is nothing but a thing of the moment. As soon as the Lions are through with him we won't hear nothing else about him, until he gets on some kind of winning streak, which I'm sure he'll do since there's no other good defenses in the NFC. He may be a good QB but he's nowhere near living up to the hype he's getting.

Right now, Rodgers is more popular than Brady since Greenbay is the league's best team overall. Brady is still the best QB in the league to me.

Nobody does what he does with what he has.

SyN65 said:

Oh God, I know what adversity meant I was just being sarcastic.

Rodgers just faced "adversity" two days ago, Packers were down 14 points on the road and scored 25 straight to win the game. Or how about when the Packers were in the playoffs against the Cardinals and it was a shoot out and Rodgers did everything he could to keep up with Warner, ultimately failing because of a non-call face mask?

Our boy Brady hasn't exactly been Mr. Adversity lately what with two straight embarrassing playoff losses. At this point the criticism should be on him and not on Rodgers, imo.

Disclaimer: I'm a huge Rodgers fan so forgive me if I'm coming off as Packers fan boy here. :rocker:

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Excellent points. Brady has been terrible the last three games when it mattered (playoffs) and certainly deserves criticism. I'm sure he's not sulking about being treated unfairly by spoiled fans. He's very aware of his poor playoff performances lately. It's only the media and homer fans who seem to have forgotten.

Rodgers offensive line is a train wreck and that's not considered adversity around here? The Pack were completely decimated by injuries last season but that's apparently not worthy of consideration either.

Dubious logic.

1st Its whose better Peyton Manning or Tom Brady
Then Drew Brees or Tom Brady
Now Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady
And soon it'll be Andrew Luck or Tom Brady

Obviously Tom Brady is BETTER because EVERYONE throwing a football is compared to him. So let everyone make comparisons, make headlines etc I'll TAKE TOM BRADY EVERY TIME!

DaBronxPats14 said:

1st Its whose better Peyton Manning or Tom Brady
Then Drew Brees or Tom Brady
Now Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady
And soon it'll be Andrew Luck or Tom Brady

Obviously Tom Brady is BETTER because EVERYONE throwing a football is compared to him. So let everyone make comparisons, make headlines etc I'll TAKE TOM BRADY EVERY TIME!

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Great point

DaBronxPats14 said:

1st Its whose better Peyton Manning or Tom Brady
Then Drew Brees or Tom Brady
Now Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady
And soon it'll be Andrew Luck or Tom Brady

Obviously Tom Brady is BETTER because EVERYONE throwing a football is compared to him. So let everyone make comparisons, make headlines etc I'll TAKE TOM BRADY EVERY TIME!

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And last year it was "Vick should be co-MVP." Brady has been in the discussion of who the top two QBs are that people are arguing about the whole time. Looking at consistency rather than the hype of short term performance, it has been Brady, Manning, and Brees in that order.

He is the only one on all of these lists that has the playoff win streak record, the regular season win streak record, the overall win streak record, the most TD passes in a season, three rings, and played a full season with a 9:1 TD:INT ratio. He might set the passing yardarge record this year if he keeps at least 296 yards be game. And in the less glamorous seasons, he damn near got to a Superbowl throwing to scrubs, and won 14 games with a terrible defense (or 18 since the trend hasn't reversed so far this season).

The Packers are clearly the best team right now. They are not overrated. That title belongs to the Lions who won't even be playing the Packers until Thanksgiving and in all likelihood are not the best team in their own division. But there are many things that contribute to a team winning. Unfortunately the Patriots are not as well rounded as they should be right now, but that doesn't change the fact that Brady is the best QB in the league. Next year it will be somebody else with the hot hand that is supposedly better.

Fahrenhype said:

And last year it was "Vick should be co-MVP." Brady has been in the discussion of who the top two QBs are that people are arguing about the whole time. Looking at consistency rather than the hype of short term performance, it has been Brady, Manning, and Brees in that order.

He is the only one on all of these lists that has the playoff win streak record, the regular season win streak record, the overall win streak record, the most TD passes in a season, three rings, and played a full season with a 9:1 TD:INT ratio. He might set the passing yardarge record this year if he keeps at least 296 yards be game. And in the less glamorous seasons, he damn near got to a Superbowl throwing to scrubs, and won 14 games with a terrible defense (or 18 since the trend hasn't reversed so far this season).

Next year it will be somebody else with the hot hand that is supposedly better.

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Agreed! Well Said/Typed!

Fahrenhype said:

Dumb question. He isn't even as good as Drew Brees. The Packers are the better team overall though. Their defense makes up the difference.

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if i recall, green bays second to last (with patriots being last) in passing defense... so i guess their defense does make a difference