Aaron Rodgers’ 44 Total TDs in 2014
1-10-NE 32 (Q1, :15) (No Huddle, Shotgun) 12-A.Rodgers pass deep left to 89-R.Rodgers for 32 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Rodgers’ pump fake on this play even made the cameraman flinch. Richard Rodgers outran Patrick Chung and ended up open for a TD.
3-2-NE 45 (Q2, :23) (Shotgun) 12-A.Rodgers pass short middle to 87-J.Nelson for 45 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Darelle Revis getting beat is a very rare occurrence. Here, Jordy Nelson does a really good job of disguising his route and then cutting very sharply to the inside. The route was basically indefensible, even for someone as good as Revis. Rodgers has a perfect throw too, as he hits Nelson in stride for the TD.
1-1-ATL 1 (Q2, 4:24) (Shotgun) 12-A.Rodgers pass short middle to 27-E.Lacy for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN.
None of Rodgers’ receivers get open, but Lacy leaks out of the backfield and has enough room to fall across the goal line. Good job by Rodgers of moving quickly to his checkdown.
3-10-ATL 10 (Q2, :31) (No Huddle, Shotgun) 12-A.Rodgers pass short right to 87-J.Nelson for 10 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Rodgers jukes Kroy Biermann out of his shoes to extend the play here. It’s a great show of his ability to avoid pressure. Once Rodgers escapes the pocket, Nelson does a good job of finding an open spot in the endzone to get open for the TD.
1-10-GB 40 (Q4, 10:38) 12-A.Rodgers pass deep middle to 87-J.Nelson for 60 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
This is very similar to the play where Nelson beat Harrison Smith for a TD earlier in the year. He got the safety to flip his hips to the outside and then it was all over. Nelson is too fast for the DB to be able to recover from that mistake, and Rodgers hits the receiver in stride.
3-1-TB 1 (Q4, 2:51) (Shotgun) 12-A.Rodgers pass short right to 87-J.Nelson for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN.
Like I said before, slant routes are really hard to defend unless they get jumped. Here Rodgers does a good job of keeping the throw low so Nelson can duck under the impending hit and have an easier time catching the ball.
1-4-DET 4 (Q2, 2:30) (Shotgun) 12-A.Rodgers pass short middle to 18-R.Cobb for 4 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
This play is important for more than just the TD, which Rodgers did a great job to create. You can see at the end that Rodgers takes a weird hop and collapses to the ground after the throw. He injured his calf on the play, and that definitely affected his play in the playoffs. Anyway, back to the play. Rodgers avoids pressure and escapes a messy pocket. He makes that look easy, and then Cobb does a good job of moving with Rodgers. This makes it a pretty easy TD throw for Aaron.
3-4-DET 13 (Q3, 3:39) (No Huddle, Shotgun) 12-A.Rodgers pass short middle to 18-R.Cobb for 13 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Really great route running by Cobb here. He gets the CB facing towards the boundary and then changes direction really quickly, coming open on the inside. Rodgers gets to place the easy throw perfectly for the TD.
3-4-DAL 4 (Q1, 8:34) (Shotgun) 12-A.Rodgers pass short middle to 81-A.Quarless for 4 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Even with an injury, Rodgers was still able to use his mobility to make a TD happen. His moving up in the pocket caused the LB to move towards him, which opened up Quarless in the back of the endzone.
3-15-DAL 46 (Q3, 1:52) (Shotgun) 12-A.Rodgers pass deep middle to 17-D.Adams for 46 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Adams does a good job of getting a step on the corner covering him. Rodgers makes a pinpoint throw. Adams makes a defender miss and scores. This is a pretty play all around by the Packers.
1-10-DAL 13 (Q4, 9:10) (Shotgun) 12-A.Rodgers pass short left to 89-R.Rodgers for 13 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
This is the most difficult TD throw of the bunch. First of all, Rodgers once again moved out of a collapsing pocket into an open part of the field. Then, the window he’s throwing through is tiny. There’s absolutely no margin for error on this throw, and Rodgers does it perfectly.
2-5-SEA 13 (Q1, :06) (Shotgun) 12-A.Rodgers pass short right to 18-R.Cobb for 13 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
I’m sorry about the skip in this play, but the Packers-Seahawks tape is a little messed up and that’s just how this play is. Anyway, this is just another one of those “Rodgers escapes the pocket, a receiver finds open space in the endzone, Rodgers finds him for the TD” plays that Aaron and Co. are so good at. They should patent it.
1-10-NO 14 (Q4, 5:13) (Shotgun) 12-A.Rodgers scrambles up the middle for 14 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
You don’t want to leave Rodgers a gaping hole up the middle to run through.
2-1-DET 1 (Q4, 8:56) 12-A.Rodgers up the middle for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN.
QB sneaks are effective. I don’t understand why teams don’t use them more often on the goal line.
So, here you got to witness Aaron Rodgers in all of his glory. He has it all. His physical tools are off the charts. He’s on par mentally with any QB in the league (ok, his mental game probably isn’t quite to the level as Manning, Brady, and Brees but he’s in the same ballpark and I’m splitting hairs here). When you look at these plays as a whole, one thing sticks out to me above all else: precision. Rodgers is like a machine. You’d think, with 42 plays, there would at least be a few where Rodgers made an iffy throw and got bailed out by a great catch. That simply didn’t happen. There were only a couple of plays where a receiver even had to noticeably adjust to the pass. It’s ridiculous. Nobody should be that good all the time, but Rodgers is.
There is one other thing that pops out to me: the Packers have great route runners. On the majority of these throws, the receiver is pretty open. At the very least, the receiver has a step on the defender. There are a few where Rodgers had to thread the needle but not many. Rodgers is totally precise, but the fact that his receivers get open easily on a regular basis is a testament to both the play design and their ability. It makes Rodgers’ life much easier.
