Aaron Rodgers is in a two-horse race to win Most Valuable Player this season, and even though he's the older of the two -- Patrick Mahomes is 12 years his junior -- he might end up winning.
It would be quite an accomplishment, and one that isn't lost on Rodgers.
"There's not many guys that have won three, so that would definitely mean a lot," Rodgers said, via ESPN. "It's nice to be back in the conversation."
Following an offseason in which the 37-year-old watched his team pass on adding a weapon for him and instead select his long-term replacement, Rodgers has shown no signs that he's spent even a moment looking over his shoulder. The veteran has thrown a league-leading 39 touchdown passes, he's matched Russell Wilson -- an early season favorite to win MVP -- in passing yards while throwing eight fewer interceptions, and his passer rating is the best in the NFL.
Year 2 with Matt LaFleur has been pretty good to Rodgers. It's a far cry from where Rodgers and the Packers were in the final years and months of the Mike McCarthy era, when dysfunction reigned and undercut Green Bay's offense at every opportunity. Rodgers said Wednesday he felt he could have won the award back in 2012, when the partnership with McCarthy was still healthy and productive, and again in 2016 when he "didn't get a sniff" because of the overwhelming case for Atlanta's Matt Ryan, who had an incredible year in offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan's system.
By the time things devolved in Green Bay, Rodgers wasn't in consideration because he either couldn't stay on the field, or his team simply wasn't playing well enough to grab the attention necessary to win such an award.
No longer. Rodgers' Packers have ascended to the NFC's top seed with three games to play, and he's the leader down the back stretch for the league's top honor. Mahomes provides legitimate competition, but right now, it's Rodgers' to lose.