Aaron Rodgers is quite the polarizing figure. Right now, that’s especially true for Pittsburgh Steelers fans. As they continue to wait for him to make a decision, things are only getting more tense. However, with no other options, the Steelers don’t really have another choice but to wait. If the Steelers end up missing out on Rodgers, though, FS1’s Jason McIntyre doesn’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing.
“I’m watching all these games because I’m a Jets fan. Aaron Rodgers was not good, despite what the numbers tell you,” McIntyre said Tuesday on The Herd. “So, I don’t think it’s the worst thing in the world if the Steelers miss out on Rodgers. Can you imagine the drama with him and Mike Tomlin?”
The potential fit with Rodgers and Mike Tomlin has been discussed at nauseam. While Rodgers would bring a big personality with him, it’s not like Tomlin hasn’t had to deal with that before. What the Steelers would really care about, obviously, is his play on the field. In 2024, Rodgers was statistically good, as McIntyre references.
Rodgers completed 63 percent of his passes, for 3,897 yards, an average of 229.2 per game. He threw 28 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and had a passer rating of 90.5.
McIntyre thinks those stats are misleading.
“They’re [Jets] trailing after three quarters, and he’s just chucking and ducking in the fourth quarter,” McIntyre said. “You go look at Davante Adams’ numbers. With the Jets, a lot of it was just stacked in the fourth quarter ’cause they were down 20 points in every game.”
It’s possible Rodgers’ stats were inflated since the Jets were losing in a lot of their games in 2024, and defenses tend to play in a more relaxed, prevent coverage during those situations.
In reality, McIntyre might be onto something. The fourth quarter was statistically the best one Aaron Rodgers had throughout the 2024 season. In all 17 fourth quarters he played, not including one-possession games, Rodgers had a 65.1-percent completion rate, 1,172 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions. In all fourth quarters in which the Jets were in one-score games, Rodgers was slightly worse, with a 63.8-percent completion rate, 890 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions.
Aside from throwing eight touchdowns in the second quarters of games, no other stat of Rodgers’, from any quarter, matches his numbers during fourth quarters when the Jets were either winning, or losing by more than one score. So, McIntyre does have a point. That said, it’s not like Rodgers earned all his numbers in garbage time.
There were seven games in 2024 in which Rodgers posted a 100.0 passer rating or higher. Out of all seven, there were zero in which the Jets were down by more than one possession at halftime. In two of them, the Jets were winning at halftime.
So what does this all mean?
For many reasons, the Jets were a bad football team in 2024. Losing a lot of games means you have to throw a lot to try and catch back up to your opponent. With 12 losses on the year, Rodgers had plenty of chances to boost his stats in the fourth quarter. The fact that he performed better in the fourth quarter when it wasn’t a one-score game is evidence of that.
However, that does not mean his season was full of garbage-time stats. In his best performances, the Jets had a chance to or did win those games. Rodgers may not be what he once was, and he may have pile up some numbers in the fourth quarter. But he still had several impressive performances and can still keep his team in games.
