Aaron Rodgers locked up NFL MVP while Packers clinched No. 1 seed

Aaron Rodgers secured NFL MVP while locking up the Packers’ first-round bye.

Aaron Rodgers entered Week 17 as the clear-cut frontrunner to win NFL MVP. While Patrick Mahomes stumbled down the stretch and Josh Allen‘s midseason slip-ups cost each of them, the Green Bay Packers quarterback remained steadily dominant. And with his team aiming to beat the rival Bears and lock up the top seed in the NFC, all he needed was another good game to lock up the award.

In typical fashion of the future Hall-of-Famer, Rodgers delivered that. Even without star left tackle David Bakhtiari, the quarterback made mincemeat out of the Chicago defense as he moved the ball at will. He only passed 24 times in a dominant effort but completed 19 of those throws for 240 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions.

Yes, his yardage total wasn’t eye-popping but he continued to lead arguably the best offense in the NFL and deliver the goods when it came to scores. In fact, he would’ve topped 300 yards and had another touchdown had Marquez Valdes-Scantling not dropped a perfect throw on a deep ball.

Regardless of what could’ve been, though, what will be is Aaron Rodgers will claim the third NFL MVP award of his career.

Despite worthy challengers, Aaron Rodgers’ season with the Packers is untouchable.

For as good as Mahomes, Allen and even Derrick Henry were in the 2020 NFL season, Rodgers was a cut above throughout the campaign. Yes, he finished only seventh in passing yards on the year but, considering that three players ahead of him played on teams with losing records, it stands to reason that the Packers’ 13-3 season and some dominant wins might’ve capped his yardage.

Speaking to that point is the efficiency of Rodgers on the year. The one-time Super Bowl champion had the highest completion percentage (70.7) of any player to throw for more than 1,000 yards this season. Moreover, he had the fewest interceptions (5) of any player who threw for more than 3,000 yards this year.

And then you get to the coup de grace; Aaron Rodgers led the NFL in passing touchdowns by a wide margin with 48. Tom Brady and Russell Wilson were the only other quarterbacks to hit 40 passing touchdowns for the year, getting to that mark exactly. In fact, Rodgers had more passing touchdowns than the Packers had punts (46) on the year, a truly absurd mark.

When you look at the most efficient quarterback who threw for the most touchdowns for the best team in the NFC, it would be outlandish for him to not capture NFL MVP. But as he and Green Bay locked up the No. 1 seed in the conference, you have to believe that the trophy Rodgers truly wants to add to his collection is the Lombardi Trophy to put alongside his third MVP.