The term darkest timeline refers to basically the worst version of reality where any number of events result in the least desirable outcome1. I’ve been using this idea regularly when thinking about the Sixers, to the point where it will probably be the title of the book I’m half finished writing.2 Today though, we aren’t focused on Philadelphia at all. I’m here to discuss a personal non-conspiracy theory: we have witnessed the worst possible career outcome for Aaron Rodgers.
That isn’t to say that Aaron Rodgers is bad, far from it. In fact, he’s the most talented QB we’ve probably ever seen. If he isn’t #1, he is on the short list with Mahomes and…umm…well, that’s a short list. There are things he can do with a football that literally no one else can do. He has the strongest, most accurate, and versatile arm while also having the patience and gumption to throw it at the absolute perfect time. Getting rattled in regular season games doesn’t seem to be something he’s familiar with either. He can tell a whole fan base to “relax” and then back it up by calmly ripping teams hearts out in the final minute. He has been named league MVP four times!
Wait, so what’s the point of this article? In 20 years in the NFL, the best pure passer of our generation has been to one Super Bowl. He won it, but he has just the one appearance. Unlike so many NBA players who ran into Michael Jordan or AFC QBs who had to get past Tom Brady and the Patriots, Aaron Rodgers never had a foil or arch nemesis. His final has always been himself. Winning the big one is hard, but only getting there once for a talent of his magnitude is astounding. It’s not that his team let him down or he simply didn’t have the opportunities either. In his 14 years finishing the season as the primary signal caller for the Packers, Green Bay won the division 8 times, finished with 10+ wins 10 times, and regularly finished at or near the top seed in the conference. They just regularly stalled out in the playoffs. In 5 trips to the Conference Championship, he is 1-4.
Rodgers famously fell on draft night, the potential top pick didn’t hear his name called until #24. The Packers incumbent QB, Brett Favre, wasn’t exactly happy about this and refused to mentor the young QB from UCLA. Rodgers has to wait 3 full seasons to finally take the reigns. As soon as he did, the Packers looked set. He followed up his first season as a starter by going 11-5, making the playoffs, and being named to the Pro Bowl. In his 3rd season, he led the team to another 11-5 record, won 3 road playoff games, and then beat the Steelers for the championship. At 27, Aaron Rodgers was an ascending Super Bowl MVP with the brightest future in the league. How many championships would he win?
2011 Season: After the Super Bowl, things seemed to get even better. In 2011, Rodgers won his first MVP award damn near unanimously (Drew Brees received 2 of 50 votes), the Packers finished 15-1, and they looked ready to cruise opening up their title defense against the 11-7 Giants in his first home playoff game. Didn’t happen. Green Bay got torched 37-20. Hey, it’s understandable. New Jersey had an unbelievable pass rush that season and the Packers defense couldn’t stop the Giants. It sucks (especially because it was the Giants) but it happens. No big deal, he would have plenty more opportunities.
2012 Season: The Packers fell back a little bit, again going 11-5 while Rodgers was voted second team All Pro. They handily defeated the Joe Webb led Minnesota Vikings in the 1st round. In the 2nd round though, they weren’t so lucky. The Colin Kaepernick led 49ers marched down the field at will in the second half and Rodgers couldn’t keep the pace. SF won 45-31. No shame here either. They weren’t the better team.
Now it starts getting weird…
2013 Season: Packers win the division but only at 8-7-1 and get a rematch with the 49ers in first round. Down 3 in the 4th quarter, Rodgers drives the team 61 yards but stalls out on the 6-yard line. They tie the game, but the 49ers easily move the ball enough for the field goal and the win as time expires. It’s easy to blame Rodgers for not getting in the end zone and this game slipped away, but this wasn’t a great Packers team.
2014 Season: Rodgers wins his 2nd MVP award for leading the Packers to a 12-4 record. They “caught” a gift at home in the divisional round, when Dez Bryant’s incredible late game grab down at the 1 was ruled “no-catch.” Next week in the NFC Championship, Rodgers managed to blow a 16-point halftime lead to the Seahawks. In 6 second half drives, he managed 4 punts and 2 field goals before losing in OT.
2015 Season: After defeating the Kirk Cousins led Washingtons in the wild card round, the 10-6 Packers played the Arizona Cardinals. This game is remembered for one of the greatest Hail Mary’s that didn’t matter. With no time on the clock and the Packers down 7, Rodgers hucked the ball 40 yards to Jeff Janis to tie the game. The first play in OT, Larry Fitzgerald sprinted 75 yards to the Packers 5. Two plays later the game was over, 26-20. Lost in that crazy ending is the question of how in the world did the Packers only score 13 points most of this game? In their 10 possessions, they had 4 scoring drives but the other 6 consisted of moving the ball 0, 6, 15, 0, 23, and 5 yards. The late heroics made it look much better than it was, but this game was the beginning of a playoff pattern where Rodgers led offenses simply couldn’t move.
2016 Season: Rodgers led the league in TD passes and finished 5th for MVP while again going 10-6. After mauling the Giants in the Wild Card round, the Packers were up 28-13 on the Cowboys in the second half with the ball. Rodgers would go INT, Punt, FG, FG to win the game 34-31. Now in his 3rd NFC Championship, Rodgers and the Packers were blown out by the Falcons. Rodgers threw a costly pick before halftime and then went 3-and-out to start the second half. Before you knew it, the Packers were down 31-0. Unfortunately for Rodgers, Atlanta wouldn’t blow their big lead in this game like they did in the Super Bowl.
The next two years weren’t kind, with injury ruining his 2017 season and the Packers going 6-9-1 in 2018. Rodgers still had one more great extended run in him though. From 2019-2021 the Packers would go 13-3 each year and Rodgers would win 2 more MVP awards. What does he have to show for it? 3 more playoff flameouts.
2019 Season: NFC Championship Game, Packers at 49ers. The Packers go down 27-0 at halftime after four punts and two Rodgers turnovers. A second half rally was far too little and too late as SF goes back to the Super Bowl winning 37-20.
2020 Season: Now 3-time MVP Rodgers finally gets to face Tom Brady in the playoffs. Brady and the Bucs go up 28-10 shortly after halftime. In a strange bit of business, Brady throws interceptions on three consecutive second half drives but Rodgers can’t take advantage. The Bucs win 31-26 and Brady goes to his 10th and final Super Bowl. This would be Rodgers’ final NFC championship game, going 1-4 overall.
2021 Season: 4-time MVP Aaron Rodgers and the Packers host the 9-7 49ers in the divisional round. The Packers would go up 7-0 and hold only a 10-3 lead with 5 minutes to play. The 49ers return a blocked punt for a TD then win it on a walk off field goal, 13-10. The Packers had some bad luck in this game including a fumble, missed FG, and the punt block, but Rodgers was terrible especially in the second half. In his final two drives, with the 49ers unable to move the ball at all, Rodgers simply needed to do anything positive. Instead, the offense managed -15 yards total. It was truly one of the worst games I have ever seen.
Despite being constantly in the headlines, he hasn’t mattered as a football player since that 2021 playoff game (I know it took place in 2022, shut up). Rodgers was eventually traded to the Jets and was lost for the season to injury in the first quarter of the first game. Last year he went 5-12 and looks cooked. Still, the Steelers are now giving him another chance for some reason.
Aaron Rodgers ranks 7th all time in passing yards and should retire around 5th. He’s 5th in TDs and should finish 3rd or 4th. In passer rating, he is first. Despite playing as long as he has, he is 97th all time in interceptions, almost 100 behind Brady. He is very simply one of the greatest QBs of all time. It is impossible to ignore that 1-4 record in Conference Championship games though. How in the world did he only go to 1 Super Bowl? He had his best team and best season in 2011. The Packers blew it in 2014. Brady handed Rodgers the game in 2020. 2021 might be the worst though, they were clearly the best team in the NFC. There’s a world where Aaron Rodgers has been to 5 Super Bowls.
Once he finally retires, the 5-year countdown clock will begin for Rodgers to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. That isn’t debatable. Anyone who saw him in 2010 wouldn’t be surprised. You could tell them his stats and his MVPs and his overall record, they would nod along telling you “of course.” All that makes sense. He only made it to the 1 Super Bowl though. Huh?
Philly Front Office 
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