New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers seems washed up. Still, because of his long-term greatness in the NFL, he will always have an aura of potentially having a great game at any point. He has not thrown for 300 yards in a game, though, since 2021. Against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 13, Rodgers missed several open receivers, too.
He also made a critical mistake when the Jets had the ball inside the Seattle 20-yard line, already leading 21-7 and with a chance to likely end the game, for all intents and purposes, early in the second quarter. Instead, Rodgers dropped back to pass and did not think that defensive lineman Leonard Williams would have gone back into coverage. Rodgers threw the ball, Williams had a relatively easy interception and ran the pick back for a 92-yard touchdown.
The play, of course, changed the game. As risk-averse as Rodgers has been for most of his career, he was out-schemed on the play by Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald and outplayed by Williams. As opposed to his earlier seasons when Rodgers might have been more aggressive in fitting the ball into a tight window, Williams and Macdonald picked up on a recent tendency of the quarterback.
Leonard Williams gives brutally honest assessment of Aaron Rodgers after the Seattle Seahawks Week 13 victory
After the game, Williams explained the play to the media and gave a brutal assessment of the current state of Rodgers. The defensive lineman said, "I think he’s an older guy, doesn’t want to take big hits like that anymore. So, sometimes, if you feel the guy coming, feel speed at him, he’s going to chuck it and duck. We had him a situation where Mike called a great call and it paid off."
Based on how well - or, more correctly, how poorly - Rodgers has played for the Jets this season, why would New York want him back next year? In fact, no team should want Rodgers. He obviously does not have the same arm talent he did when he was younger, and he is bailing out on plays, according to Williams. Plus, if the Seahawks know Rodgers is avoiding hits, every other team knows it as well.
For our purposes here, however, Rodgers not wanting to be the same quarterback he was when he was 27, for instance, was only a good thing for the Seahawks. After the victory, Seattle's third straight, the team is now solely in first place in the NFC West.
The schedule does get even tougher in the next few weeks as Seattle will play the Arizona Cardinals, Minnesota Vikings, and Green Bay Packers, but Seattle is where they want to be now. Some thanks for that should go to Aaron Rodgers who simply does not need to be a starting quarterback anymore.