Packers: Aaron Rodgers vs. Brett Favre Comparison
By Tim Muma
If there ever was a category where Rodgers clearly outranks Favre, it’s this one, right? Well, the Packers’ legend wasn’t as relatively bad as many think.
Let’s start with Rodgers. He has thrown fewer than 10 interceptions in five of his seven seasons (minimum 10 games played). That’s an incredibly secure handling of the football.
His ability to still make fantastic throws while avoiding the oft-errant pass has been surgical in nature. Rodgers’ normal lack of turnovers nearly always keeps the Packers in a position to win.
The pure numbers are largely in Rodgers’ favor. From 2008-2015, Rodgers threw only eight interception per season. That was a sparkling seven picks fewer than the NFL average.
Favre, on the other hand, tossed 16.63 interceptions per year. As you can see, that more than twice the amount Rodgers’ tossed.
Yet, here’s the fascinating part to me.
The Packers’ current QB has shown an unbelievable amount of discipline and caution in his first eight years as a starter.
NFL quarterbacks at that time threw 17.24 interceptions per season. That is more than two picks higher than the league average from 2008-2015.
It also means that Favre was slightly better than the NFL when it came to interceptions. He tossed 0.61 fewer per season – basically league average.
While that’s not good for a Hall of Fame signal-caller, I’d bet that’s rather surprising for many who view Favre only as the interception king. Though, did you know that Bart Starr had a higher interception percentage (4.4) than Favre (3.3) in their careers?
If it weren’t for a a couple of years when Favre threw 23 interceptions each (1998 and 1999), he would’ve been below 15 picks per season.
Of course, that still would’ve been way more than Rodgers. The Packers’ current QB has shown an unbelievable amount of discipline and caution in his first eight years as a starter.