Heading into Week 15 of the NFL season, Aaron Rodgers had a 13-0 record and all of the analysts shining up Rodgers’ mantelpiece to place the MVP trophy. Then a Week 14 loss to Kansas City in Rodgers' worst outing of the year, while Drew Brees was busy throwing for five touchdowns and a 149.2 passer rating against a Viking team that had struggled all year long.
You know what happened the rest of the season:
—Brees goes out and not only breaks, but shatters Dan Marino’s single-season passing yards record, ending up with 5,476 on the year.
—Rodgers throws for five touchdowns against a disassembled Chicago Bears team.
—Backup Matt Flynn gets the start in the final game against the playoff bound Detroit Lions.
That's when something strange happened. Matt Flynn didn’t just go out and give everyone watching one of the most exciting shootouts of the year. He broke records. Six touchdowns against the Lions set a Packers franchise record.
(For the record, Jordy Nelson's name really annoys me. --JS)
Ain't sayin' nothin' new
Matt Flynn isn’t new to getting his chance to start at the end of the season. At the end of the 2010 season, Flynn got two starts. He played poorly against a (then) not-so-good Detroit Lions team, but in his second start, he played very well in a close loss to a 14-2 Patriots team that would see their season end in a one-and-done loss to the Jets. Needless to say, putting up a 100 passer rating and throwing three touchdowns against a very competitive New England team impressed some people. Then in Week 17 of this season he came out and shined.
Was Flynn that much more improved or was Rodgers playing with loaded weapons? Going over the Green Bay receiving corps is detailing a who’s who of receivers I want on my All-Madden team. Highlighting the list is 2012 pro bowler Greg Jennings and Rodgers' go-to receiver in Jordy Nelson. Throw in Donald Driver, James Jones, and tight end Jermichael Finley and not many people can be surprised by the Packers' impressive 2011 season.
I’m not saying that if you threw in Brees' backup Chase Daniel, he’d throw for 400-plus yards. Obviously Flynn has talent, and that speaks volumes about the Green Bay organization that they can cultivate another potentially solid number-one starter using the same system with Flynn that developed Aaron Rodgers.
Flynn steps in, Brees steps up
Flynn didn’t get the same opportunity as Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan, who were in the same draft class but started their rookie seasons. That’s what being drafted in the seventh round does. He just wasn’t perceived as the next great thing back in 2008, and question marks are still there. That’s what I find the most intriguing. Nobody knows what will become of Matt Flynn, yet this one game may single handedly cost Rodgers an MVP title. They take Flynn for what he should be, a seventh rounder, not what he could be after four years of playing backup in Green Bay. I can’t say I blame anyone for doing that either. For every Tom Brady, there’s a million late-round quarterbacks who go on to be nothing more.
Are the people voting on the MVP award voting on the past few weeks, not a whole season? They’re not supposed to, but it’s hard not to be swayed by what you’ve recently seen: Drew Brees setting records.
Total passing yards – 5,476
300-yard passing games – 13
Completions – 468
Consecutive games of 20 completed passes – 36
Completion percentage – 71.2%
The only stat Rodgers' supporters have against Drew Brees in MVP voting is the difference in interceptions. Rodgers has only six interceptions on the year with no multiple interception games. Drew Brees has 14, including a season-high three against Tampa Bay in Week 6.
Voting for the MVP award has already happened. None of this talk changes who has won the award, even though nobody will find out until Super Bowl Sunday. For what it’s worth, I think Rodgers will still receive the award, but there is a much higher chance now that it could go to Brees. If it does, I wonder if Rodgers will always think on what would’ve happened had he gotten the start in week 17. I know he’ll claim he doesn’t care about the outcome as long as the Packers continue to win, and that’s all I’d expect him to say.
Jon Peterlin is a lifelong Chicagoan, avid bowler, Bears and (sigh) Cubs fan. When he's not using the overwhelming advantage of being a left-handed bowler to hustle marks at Bleeker's Bowl on 95th Street, he's asking big questions about sports issues. Follow Jon on Twitter @JPeterlin.
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