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In April, the Green Bay Packers sent a clear message about the future of the franchise when they wrote Jordan Love. Sixteen games later, that decision already looks like a huge mistake. Aaron Rodgers has rediscovered his vintage form and may soon add a third NFL MVP trophy to his collection.
However, the future Hall of Hamer benefited from the help of a weapon that didn’t catch a single pass or run a single route all season. Rather, Rodgers benefited from a simple concept that has massive implications for NFL quarterbacks: silence.
Aaron Rodgers made the Packers silly for drafting his potential successor
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Aaron Rodgers received a wake-up call from the Packers in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft when the team exchange to select Jordan Love. However, given his age and statistical decline over the past few years, it made sense for Green Bay to invest in the quarterback position… but not so soon.
While Love may very well become a starter one day, he doesn’t stand a chance of knocking down Rodgers anytime soon based on Pro Bowler’s 2020 campaign nine times.
During his 37-year season, Rodgers kind of took his game to another level. He led the NFL in completion percentage (70.7), touchdowns (48), quarterback rating (121.5) and QBR (84.4). The superstar caller accomplished all of this despite having nearly all of his key weapons suffered from injury issues.
As their franchise player returned to his primary form, the Packers led the league with 31.8 points per game. They’ve won their last six games to finish with a 13-3 record and the No.1 seed in the NFC.
Needless to say, the whole “quarterback controversy” scenario that began in the spring never nearly came true. Love didn’t play a single moment during his rookie season. Rodgers was the only QB Packers to attempt an assist all year.
MVP nominee reveals silent weapon that played a major role in his rebound season
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For Aaron Rodgers, his 2020 season wouldn’t have been possible without the help of a large number of weapons. Davante Adams missed two games and still had a career-high 115 assists. The four-time Pro Bowler led the NFL with 18 touchdown receptions.
Running back Aaron Jones got his first Pro Bowl selection at the perfect time. The fourth-year pro has 1,459 scrimmage yards and 11 total touchdowns as he is on the verge of becoming a free agent.
Additionally, Robert Tonyan became a legitimate weapon in his third season at Green Bay. The 6-5, 237-pound tight end caught 11 touchdowns after starting the year with only two career TD receptions.
However, Rodgers also had a significant advantage this season that he had never had before.
During Tuesday’s appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, he revealed the weapon that could have saved his career as a Packers: silence.
“It’s just different playing on the road and not having crowd noise issues,” Rodgers told McAfee and his former teammate AJ Hawk. “It’s like being at home when you are able to hear things and communicate whatever you want to communicate to guys, it now changes the whole dynamic of a game.
He added, “I think it’s really helped every veteran quarterback this year, and really every quarterback overall. Being able to hear eight games where you couldn’t really hear a thing. ”
Rodgers specifically mentioned Seattle, New Orleans, Minnesota and Chicago as tough environments that no longer provide such a big advantage on the pitch due to the lack of fans.
“You are able to do things that you couldn’t do in a normal year with the fans,” said Rodgers.
And the numbers confirm it.
The benefit of silence can be seen in Rodgers’ road stats
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In 2019, Aaron Rodgers completed 61.4% of his passes for 1,793 yards, 12 touchdowns and two interceptions in eight road starts. He posted an 89.6 quarterback rating away from Lambeau Field.
The year before, his road numbers included a 62% completion rate and a 98.0 quarterback score. In 2017, he threw four interceptions in four road starts.
However, with no crowd noise to drown his audibles and checks, Rodgers completely turned the story around on the road in 2020. He completed 69.7% of his passes for 2,236 yards, 25 touchdowns and three interceptions. He posted a quarterback score of 120.7 – less than two points below his home mark of 122.4.
Coincidence?
Or did the lack of fans actually play a legitimate role in Rodgers’ MVP-caliber campaign?
Either way, he desperately needed a bounce back in 2020 to prove he still belongs to the starting quarterback in Green Bay. And because of the beautiful sound of silence, Aaron Rodgers completely dominated on the road as much as he did at home.
And in so doing, he sent a clear response to the Packers’ Draft Day message that he won’t be toppled from his throne anytime soon.
All statistics are provided by Pro Football Reference.
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