FOXBORO, Mass. — Even New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick (kind of) weighed in on the Tom Brady-Aaron Rodgers debate this week.
The Brady-Rodgers comparisons have picked up steam with the Patriots playing the Green Bay Packers this Sunday night. Belichick once called Brady the greatest quarterback of all time, and a reporter asked him Wednesday if he still believes Brady is better than Rodgers.
“I’ve never played against Tom Brady,” Belichick said. “So, I’m glad he’s our quarterback, he’s a great quarterback. He’s won a lot of games for us, hopefully he’ll win a lot more. We’ve won a lot of games because of him. But I’ve never played against Tom Brady. So, this is a different context.
“I would say playing against Aaron Rodgers is very, very difficult. He’s as good as anybody I’ve ever faced. We’ve faced a lot of good ones through the years, and that’s not to take anything away from anybody else. Just saying the guy’s a great player. He can do everything that a quarterback needs to do, consistently does it well.
“He throws a lot of touchdowns, doesn’t throw many interceptions. Good receivers make a ton of yards after he gets them the ball, and a big part of that is him getting them the ball in space on the run so they can continue to gain positive yards after the catch. He doesn’t make them work for the ball. He gets out of some plays that very few guys can get out of.
“He’s got tremendous production down the field, so once again, he leads the league in touchdowns to interception (ratio), he leads the league in big plays. He’s thrown however many long passes to however many different receivers. It’s not all one guy. So, he’s a great player.”
Belichick clearly wasn’t going to touch the Brady-Rodgers debate head-on, but the reporter, Henry McKenna of USA TODAY’s Patriots Wire, still got a quality answer out of the Patriots head coach.
Rodgers only has started one regular season game against Belichick. He went 24-of-38 for 368 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions in the Packers’ 26-21 home win in 2014.
Belichick recalled Rodgers “killed” the Patriots in that game.
Brady has won five Super Bowls, while Rodgers has won one. Brady is a three-time MVP, while Rodgers has won the award twice.
