Head to head – Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady
It’s a common saying that quarterbacks never really competed head to head on the field. While technically this may be true, it’s certainly possible for the measure of a quarterback’s influence on the performance of the team to be taken. This is perhaps the best way to look at great quarterbacks’ head to head. Everyone was certainly focussing their attention on this influence in the recent much-anticipated meeting between Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers and their respective teams, the New England Patriots and the Green Bay Packers.
The November 4 meeting of two of the greatest quarterbacks of all time was only their second. There was indeed a lot of excitement regarding the matchup, whether fans were talking to one of the trusted apps for betting on sports, watching the game on the TV or attending in person.
The story of Brady and Rodgers
Although these two giants of the game have not developed a rivalry with each other, mostly due to playing in the same team or different leagues; they have developed rivalries with others. This is especially the case for Brady who has played against fifteen different quarterbacks at least five times in his career. The figures for Rodgers are that he has played against seven quarterbacks at least five times.
The only quarterback who has faced both of them on more than five occasions is Eli Manning. Rodgers has a 4-2 record against Manning whereas Brady has a 2-3 record. Although, it has to be said that Manning is only one of two players who has played against Brady on more than five occasions and been on the winning side in the majority of them; the other being Drew Brees.
The big confrontation
Although Rodgers and Brady have never developed much of a rivalry, and are in fact friends away from the field, the November 4 meeting was still billed as a confrontation between two all-time great quarterbacks. There was certainly a buzz surrounding this rare opportunity to see the two perform against each other.
However, the game itself did not really live up to the billing and the 31-17 win for the Patriots was not a reflection of the performance of Brady and Rodgers but more a sign of the difference in class between the two teams overall.
Neither quarterback played to their highest standards, but they did a decent enough job for their teams. Brady struggled to find a rhythm to his game at first but threw for one touchdown and picked up 294 yards. Rodgers threw for two touchdowns and 259 yards. The difference was not between the standard of play of Brady and Rodgers but was more a reflection of the play of the teams around them.
Another important factor was the Patriots’ home advantage given that they had a perfect home record for the season, prior to the game, and the Packers had a dismal away record. After all the hype about a “head to head” between Rodgers and Brady, their performances were not instrumental to the result.
