Is Aaron Rodgers still better than Patrick Mahomes?
Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes headline The Athletic's most recent quarterback tiers list, followed by Tom Brady, Josh Allen, and Justin Herbert.
Rodgers received an average vote of 1.00, solidifying him in the top spot, while Mahomes came in second at 1.02, meaning one voter was the deciding factor between him and Rodgers.
That's where the controversy begins. Should Rodgers be above Mahomes on the list?
Shannon Sharpe delivered his take, based on that single voter citing his opinion that Mahomes has lost games by relying on his "natural pocket presence."
"I have a big problem with it," Sharpe says. "How much street ball did he play in the best game that happened last year, Buffalo-Kansas City? How many quarterbacks do you believe in the history of the game could have done what Mahomes did? In the final two minutes of the game, how many quarterbacks could have done that?
"The year they won the Super Bowl, they fell behind 24. The other game, they fell behind 10 points. How much was street ball?"
Sharpe argued that in the last seven or eight games of the 2021 season when teams were forcing Mahomes to go to his second or third option, he still threw for 314 yards per game, 23 touchdowns, four interceptions and a 71% completion rate.
"They're getting outrageous with this now," Sharpe said. "To say now, you're going to take those highlight plays and use that against him. The plays that he runs out of the pocket and he could throw the ball 55 yards, they are using that against him."
Since becoming a starter in his second season in 2018, Mahomes has completed 66.1% of his passes for 301.4 yards per game, 37.8 touchdowns per season (2.4 touchdowns per game) and in those four years, has thrown 36 total interceptions, equaling nine per season. His record in those four seasons is 49-13, and he led the Chiefs to a Super Bowl win in 2020.
Since 2018, Rodgers has completed 65.9% of his passes for 263 yards per game, 34 touchdowns per season (2.1 per game), and threw 15 interceptions over those four years, 3.8 per season. His record over the previous four seasons is 45-18-1, and the Green Bay Packers lost in the conference championship twice and the divisional round this past season.
"Although Aaron Rodgers has four MVPs, how many Super Bowls has he been to in the last four years?" Sharpe added. "Mahomes has been equally as impressive."