The Most Valuable Packer is officially the NFL's Most Valuable Player.
Aaron Rodgers was named the 2020 AP MVP during Saturday's NFL Honors, completing a crowning most saw coming for the last month or two. This marks the third time Rodgers has won league MVP.
Rodgers' MVP win came by a lofty margin as he garnered 44 votes, with Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen coming in a distant second with four votes and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes getting two votes.
In the historic offensive explosion that was the 2020 season, Rodgers was better than the rest, completing over 70 percent of his passes for 4,299 yards and a 48-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio. His passer rating finished just one point below his first MVP season of 2011, nearly a decade prior to Rodgers' most recent accomplishment at 37 years old, and he led the league in the category in 2020 at 121.5.
After throwing 26 touchdown passes in his first year under head coach Matt LaFleur, Rodgers nearly doubled that total in 2020, helping the offensive-minded LaFleur direct a unit that flourished in their second season together. The Rodgers-led Packers offense finished first in points per game, second in passing yards per game and fifth in the NFL in yards per game.
Rodgers' 48 touchdown passes were the most in a season in his career, as were his completion percentage and air yards per attempt. The numbers indicate what we all saw on the field in 2020: Rodgers is operating in an offense that fits him better than ever.
The quarterback helped Green Bay finish with a 13-3 record, securing the No. 1 seed in the NFC and setting up the Packers for a possible run at a Super Bowl berth, which would have been Rodgers' second in a career that will undoubtedly land him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Green Bay fell short, losing to Tampa Bay in the NFC Championship Game, but that shouldn't stain what was a phenomenal season from Rodgers.
Less than a year after Green Bay drafted his potential successor, Rodgers reigns as the league's Most Valuable Player. We can hold off on planning for his retirement; if 2020 proved anything, it's that Rodgers still has plenty of elite football left in him.
