PITTSBURGH — Joe Burrow will support Aaron Rodgers on Sunday, but it won’t just be because of the ramifications the Jets’ game has on the Bengals’ playoff hopes.
A Jets win over the Dolphins is one of two things the Bengals need to clinch the AFC’s seventh playoff spot (Denver also needs to fall to Kansas City). Burrow also supports the Jets thanks to Rodgers, a four-time league MVP who could very well be playing in the final game of a 20-year career that will one day be immortalized in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“I’ve been a fan of his for a long time,” Burrow told CBS Sports after the Bengals’ Week 18 win over the Steelers. “Watching him grow up, he was one of those guys that you love to watch. When Monday Night, Sunday Night Football came around, you expected him to be there. Hopefully, he can help us tomorrow and make it big. -Time game for us.”
Burrow was 8 years old when Rodgers entered the NFL in 2005. He was in high school when Rodgers won his only Super Bowl after leading the Packers to a 31-25 victory over the Steelers in Super Bowl XLV. At the beginning of the 2021 season, after his only NFL matchup, Rodgers gave Burrow some good advice on how to protect yourself in the field. Burrow led the Bengals to the Super Bowl that season.
“Yeah, he did,” Burrow said when asked if Rodgers inspired him growing up. “No. 1, I think he revolutionized the way quarterbacks throw the ball. I think the way quarterback coaches coach him now is because of how he did it. I haven’t had a chance to sit down and talk to him about it, but I’d love to sit down and talk to him about his journey, with his throwing motion, and how he discovered it.
“I think he’s also a very good person to look up to in terms of being yourself and how to handle this whole fame and football thing. It’s not easy, you go through a lot of things and adversity. He seemed to stick.” The same in everything, and that is something I aspire to. “You don’t have to agree with what everyone says or does to feel admiration for how they do it.”
Ironically, Rodgers’ unique throwing motion is one of the reasons for his infamous fall to the Packers late in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft. However, Rodgers proved his doubters wrong by continuing to work on his throwing motion and taking advantage of his opportunity to watch and learn from Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre during his early years with the Packers.
In the end, Rodgers became as good as Favre, if not better. His four MVPs are second only to Peyton Manning, who won five during his legendary career.
Rodgers’ 2020 season is one of the best ever recorded by a player at any position. From a physical standpoint, it has been said that Rodgers is arguably the greatest quarterback of all time. Tom Brady, however, holds the unofficial title of greatest quarterback of all time by virtue of his seven championships to Rodgers’ one.
This year, Burrow’s game mimicked one of Rodgers’ MVP seasons. He finished the regular season with 4,918 passing yards and 43 touchdowns against only nine interceptions. Burrow will finish the season as the NFL’s leader in passing yards and is four touchdowns ahead of Baker Mayfield, who is second in the league in that category.
“I thought I was going to have my best year. I think I was,” said Burrow, who, like Rodgers, returned this season after suffering a season-ending injury in 2023 that required surgery. “I threw well this year. I still think I can throw it a lot better… So I hope next year will be better. That’s how it was with my knee. That’s how ligament injuries usually happen. I hope to work this offseason and give a jump next year.”
While Burrow had an MVP-caliber year, the 2024 season hasn’t been a banner year for the 41-year-old Rodgers. After suffering an Achilles injury last year, Rodgers has successfully found a way to get healthy enough to play in every one of the Jets’ games. But the results haven’t been what Rodgers and the Jets obviously expected. New York is 4-12 and Rodgers appears to have lost some of the magic that made him one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.
But the NFL is unpredictable, after all, so it’s possible that Rodgers could turn back the clock and produce one of his classic performances against the Dolphins. The game may also include some history, as Rodgers is one touchdown pass away from number 500.
Burrow hopes Rodgers plays well enough to lead New York to a victory that could lead to an unlikely playoff berth for him and his team, which finished the regular season on a five-game winning streak.
“We know the talent we have. We’ve been in those places before,” Burrow said of his team’s prospects if Cincinnati clinches the AFC’s final playoff spot. “I know if we can get in, we can make some noise with the players and coaches we have in this building. I just have to hope for some help tomorrow.”
