Aaron Rodgers is in a heated race with Patrick Mahomes for the NFL MVP award and he may have finally taken the lead with one week remaining in the regular season. Rodgers had another dominant performance in the Green Bay Packers' win over the Tennessee Titans, finishing 21 of 25 (84%) with 241 yards with four touchdowns and an interception -- finishing with a 128.1 passer rating in the win.
Rodgers accomplished a rare NFL feat with Sunday's performance, a pathway toward capturing his third MVP award. Rodgers had his 13th game with a 100-plus passer rating in 2020, tied for the most such games in a single season in the Super Bowl era. The only other two quarterbacks to reach this milestone are Rodgers (2011) and Patrick Mahomes (2018) -- and both won the MVP award in their respective seasons.
Rodgers is having an unbelievable season for the NFC leading Packers, ranking second in the NFL in completion percentage (70.3%), fifth in passing yards (4,059), and first in touchdowns (44) and passer rating (119.4). This comes with Green Bay receivers dropping 6.5% of Rodgers' throws this season, the most in the NFL. Rodgers has thrown 77.1% of his passes on-target (throws that would have hit the intended receiving target), third in the league.
Rodgers became the third player in NFL history with two seasons of 44-plus touchdown passes, joining Peyton Manning and Dan Marino. He finished with his 29th career game with four passing touchdowns, the fourth-most since 1950. Rodgers is the only quarterback in NFL history with multiple seasons of 40-plus touchdowns and fewer then 10 interceptions, accomplishing the feat three times (2011, 2016, 2020). He won the MVP award in 2011 while reaching that mark.
MVP odds
Rodgers has taken a commanding lead in the MVP race, according to the oddsmakers at William Hill Sportsbook. Rodgers entered Week 16 with +190 odds to capture the MVP award with Mahomes the favorite at -240. Those odds took a complete 180 after Mahomes went just 24 of 44 (54.6%) for 278 yards with two touchdowns and an interception (79.5 rating) as the Kansas City Chiefs squeaked by the Atlanta Falcons. Kansas City had its 10th fourth-quarter comeback in 2020, tying the NFL record for comeback victories in the Super Bowl era.
How much did the MVP odds change? Let's just say Rodgers is the clear favorite heading into the final week.
- Aaron Rodgers (-220)
- Patrick Mahomes (+180)
- Josh Allen (+1400)
- Derrick Henry (+5000)
- Davante Adams (+7500)
Mahomes was at -350 for the award after Week 12 while Rodgers was at +500. Rodgers has completed 76.03% of his passes in the month of December for 959 yards with 11 touchdowns to one interception (125.3 rating) while Mahomes has completed 60% of his passes for 1,243 yards with eight touchdowns to four interceptions (89.5 rating). The hot month by Rodgers -- along with the Packers taking over the top seed in the conference -- is why he's the MVP favorite by the oddsmakers.
If Rodgers has a good final regular season finale in Week 17, a third MVP award will be added to his trophy case.
