How Does Aaron Rodgers Stack Up Against Brett Favre in the Playoffs?

If you count yourself among the people who like to compare Aaron Rodgers to Brett Favre, this Sunday’s playoff game marks a critical juncture.

On Sunday, Aaron Rodgers will start his 14th playoff game under Mike McCarthy. That’s the same number of games Favre started before Mike Holmgren moved west for Seattle.

Making direct comparisons between the two is difficult, but I think it’s interesting to compare the success of these two very successful quarterbacks.

In Favre’s first thirteen playoff games, he completed 250 of 414 passes for 3,098 yards, 23 touchdowns, and ten interceptions. The Packers went 9-4 in that stretch and appeared in two Super Bowls, winning one.

Brett Favre in the playoffs under Mike Holmgren

Playoffs Table

							Passing									Rushing
Rk	Year	Date	G#		Opp	Result	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	Int	Rate	Sk	Yds	Att	Yds	TD
1	1993	1994-01-08	17	@	DET	W 28-24	15	26	57.69	204	3	1	105.3	0	0	4	18	0
2	1993	1994-01-16	18	@	DAL	L 17-27	28	45	62.22	331	2	2	80.9	2	4	0	0	0
Rk	Year	Date	G#		Opp	Result	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	Int	Rate	Sk	Yds	Att	Yds	TD
3	1994	1994-12-31	17		DET	W 16-12	23	38	60.53	262	0	0	81.2	1	7	2	5	0
4	1994	1995-01-08	18	@	DAL	L 9-35	18	35	51.43	211	0	1	58.2	1	8	2	2	0
Rk	Year	Date	G#		Opp	Result	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	Int	Rate	Sk	Yds	Att	Yds	TD
5	1995	1995-12-31	17		ATL	W 37-20	24	35	68.57	199	3	0	111.5	1	9	3	-3	0
6	1995	1996-01-06	18	@	SFO	W 27-17	21	28	75.00	299	2	0	132.9	1	5	3	11	0
7	1995	1996-01-14	19	@	DAL	L 27-38	21	39	53.85	307	3	2	84.0	4	27	1	-1	0
Rk	Year	Date	G#		Opp	Result	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	Int	Rate	Sk	Yds	Att	Yds	TD
8	1996	1997-01-04	17		SFO	W 35-14	11	15	73.33	79	1	0	107.4	1	8	5	9	0
9	1996	1997-01-12	18		CAR	W 30-13	19	29	65.52	292	2	1	107.3	1	14	5	14	0
10	1996	1997-01-26	19	N	NWE	W 35-21	14	27	51.85	246	2	0	107.9	5	38	4	12	1
Rk	Year	Date	G#		Opp	Result	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	Int	Rate	Sk	Yds	Att	Yds	TD
11	1997	1998-01-04	17		TAM	W 21-7	15	28	53.57	190	1	2	57.1	4	19	5	2	0
12	1997	1998-01-11	18	@	SFO	W 23-10	16	27	59.26	222	1	0	98.1	1	3	2	-10	0
13	1997	1998-01-25	19	N	DEN	L 24-31	25	42	59.52	256	3	1	91.0	1	1	0	0	0
Rk	Year	Date	G#		Opp	Result	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	Int	Rate	Sk	Yds	Att	Yds	TD
14	1998	1999-01-03	17	@	SFO	L 27-30	20	35	57.14	292	2	2	79.7	1	10	0	0	0

Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/3/2017.

Rodgers, meanwhile, accumulated 298 completions on 467 attempts for 3,454 yards, 27 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. The Packers were 7-6 over those thirteen games, appearing in one Super Bowl and winning it.

Aaron Rodgers in the playoffs under Mike McCarthy

Playoffs Table

							Passing									Rushing
Rk	Year	Date	Tm		Opp	Result	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	Int	Rate	Sk	Yds	Att	Yds	TD
Rk	Year	Date	Tm		Opp	Result	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	Int	Rate	Sk	Yds	Att	Yds	TD
2	2009	2010-01-10	GNB	@	ARI	L 45-51	28	42	66.67	423	4	1	121.4	5	19	3	13	1
Rk	Year	Date	Tm		Opp	Result	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	Int	Rate	Sk	Yds	Att	Yds	TD
3	2010	2011-01-09	GNB	@	PHI	W 21-16	18	27	66.67	180	3	0	122.5	2	9	3	4	0
4	2010	2011-01-15	GNB	@	ATL	W 48-21	31	36	86.11	366	3	0	136.8	2	20	2	13	1
5	2010	2011-01-23	GNB	@	CHI	W 21-14	17	30	56.67	244	0	2	55.4	1	8	7	39	1
6	2010	2011-02-06	GNB	N	PIT	W 31-25	24	39	61.54	304	3	0	111.5	3	16	2	-2	0
Rk	Year	Date	Tm		Opp	Result	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	Int	Rate	Sk	Yds	Att	Yds	TD
7	2011	2012-01-15	GNB		NYG	L 20-37	26	46	56.52	264	2	1	78.5	4	23	7	66	0
Rk	Year	Date	Tm		Opp	Result	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	Int	Rate	Sk	Yds	Att	Yds	TD
8	2012	2013-01-05	GNB		MIN	W 24-10	23	33	69.70	274	1	0	104.9	3	24	2	12	0
9	2012	2013-01-12	GNB	@	SFO	L 31-45	26	39	66.67	257	2	1	91.5	1	9	3	28	0
Rk	Year	Date	Tm		Opp	Result	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	Int	Rate	Sk	Yds	Att	Yds	TD
10	2013	2014-01-05	GNB		SFO	L 20-23	17	26	65.38	177	1	0	97.8	4	20	2	11	0
Rk	Year	Date	Tm		Opp	Result	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	Int	Rate	Sk	Yds	Att	Yds	TD
11	2014	2015-01-11	GNB		DAL	W 26-21	24	35	68.57	316	3	0	125.4	1	10	3	-4	0
12	2014	2015-01-18	GNB	@	SEA	L 22-28	19	34	55.88	178	1	2	55.8	1	7	1	12	0
Rk	Year	Date	Tm		Opp	Result	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	Int	Rate	Sk	Yds	Att	Yds	TD
13	2015	2016-01-10	GNB	@	WAS	W 35-18	21	36	58.33	210	2	0	93.5	1	5	1	-1	0
14	2015	2016-01-16	GNB	@	ARI	L 20-26	24	44	54.55	261	2	1	77.9	1	10	2	21	0

Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/3/2017.

Takeaways from both quarterbacks

First and foremost, screw the Dallas Cowboys, now and forever. I know the 49ers were excellent in the early 90’s, too, but it’s hard to believe that the Packers wouldn’t have won at least one more title if Dallas hadn’t been such a persistent obstacle.

Second, while Favre should get all the credit in the world for his postseason success, he also benefitted from a consistently great defense during the Holmgren years. During the five seasons represented in these 13 games, the Packers finished ninth, fifth, fourth, first, and fifth in scoring defense. During the seven seasons it’s taken Aaron Rodgers to accumulate 13 playoff starts, he’s only had a top five scoring defense once. It was in 2010, and you know how that went down.

Third, it’s profoundly frustrating that Rodgers has lost three times in overtime. Twice he never touched the ball, and on the third occasion the ball was forcibly removed in part because a linebacker was hanging on his facemask.

Finally, it bears pointing out that Favre’s 14th playoff start should have ended when Jerry Rice absolutely, positively, fumbled the football.

Let’s hope Rodgers has better luck this weekend.