Aaron Rodgers has now reached a new milestone in his Hall of Fame career. The long-time Packers star threw his 500th career touchdown pass combining the regular season and playoffs. He is now the fifth player to reach that hallowed mark. He is in elite company as the others to reach that milestone are Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning and Brett Favre.
The 500th touchdown pass came in the fourth quarter of the Packers 27-24 victory over the New England Patriots. The Packers trailed 24-17 when A-Rod threw a 13-yard scoring pass to rookie Romeo Doubs which tied the game at 24-24.
The breakdown, by the way, is 455 regular-season touchdowns and 45 playoff scoring passes.
Rogers’ first career touchdown pass came in his third and final season backing up Favre in 2007. In Week 13 in Dallas, Rodgers threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Greg Jennings when he came into the game in relief of Favre. The Packers lost that contest 37-27.
His first touchdown pass as a starter and his first at Lambeau Field came in Week 1 of the 2008 season. He threw a 1-yarder to fullback Korey Hall which put the Packers ahead 7-3 over the Vikings in a game the Packers eventually won 24-19.
Rodgers threw his 100th career touchdown pass in Week 5 of the 2011 season in Atlanta. He found James Jones on a 70-yard scoring play that put the Packers ahead 15-14 in an eventual 25-14 victory.
The 200th career touchdown pass took only three more years. Rodgers threw an 11-yard scoring pass to Davante Adams in a 42-10 thrashing of the Vikings at Lambeau Field.
In 2017, Rodgers threw his 300th regular season scoring pass. He found Ty Montgomery from one yard out against the Falcons in a game the Packers lost 34-23 in Week 2.
The 400th TD pass came in the Packers 30-16 win over the Eagles in 2020. He found Adams on a nine yard pass in the third quarter. The touchdown put the Packers ahead 20-3.
It should come as no surprise that Rodgers has thrown more touchdown passes against the Packers three NFC North rivals than any other team. AR-12 has 63 scoring tosses against the Bears, 56 against the Vikings and 52 against Detroit.
Among non-division opponents, Rodgers has victimized the Falcons 21 times and the 49ers 20 followed by the Panthers at 16.
Rodgers has 242 touchdown passes at home and 213 on the road. A surprising 89 of his scoring throws are of 30 yards or more while 127 of them were from 4-9 yards out.
As for receivers, 45 different players have caught a scoring pass from Rodgers. Adams leads the group with 68 touchdowns edging out Jordy Nelson who has 65. The only active member of the top five is Randall Cobb who has 44 followed by James Jones with 41 and Jennings with 38.
Jennings also caught Rodgers’ first career playoff touchdown pass which came in the Packers dramatic 51-45 overtime loss to the Cardinals in the 2009 postseason.
Tight end Andrew Quarless caught the 20th playoff touchdown pass from Rodgers on a four-yard play that gave the Packers a 7-0 lead over the Cowboys in the 2014 playoffs. Green Bay won the game 26-21.
The 40th postseason touchdown pass by Rodgers went to tight end Jace Sternberger in the 2019 NFC Championship Game while his 45th and most recent touchdown toss came in the 2020 NFC title game on a two-yard pass to Adams.
Rodgers still has more milestones to shoot for. He still needs 5,360 more passing yards in a Packers uniform to surpass Favre for first place in franchise history in that category. He would have to stay healthy and be productive this season and in 2023 to reach that milestone. Rodgers also needs 18 more wins as a starter to pass Favre in that category. A fifth career league MVP would also be special as only Peyton Manning has accomplished that goal in his career.
But the biggest remaining accomplishment for Rodgers is winning a second Super Bowl title. He and his teammates will have to pick up their play this season if the Packers and Rodgers hope to accomplish that goal.
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