Aaron Rodgers first season on the field with the Jets has been one of the biggest disappointments in franchise history. With three games left, he also has a chance to have one of the very best statistical seasons in franchise history.
It speaks to the strangeness of this lost season, the Jets' horrid quarterback history, and foreshadows the complicated decisions facing whoever is in charge of the Jets next year.
The eyeball test in recent weeks and Rodgers' overall statistics tell a story of a quarterback who can still play, even at age 41. But if he's the right quarterback for the Jets in 2025 is an altogether different question for a different time.
For now let's take a look at what Rodgers needs to do in the final few games to stand alone in Jets history atop their single-season record book. Keep in mind, all the previous records were set in 16-game seasons or fewer and Rodgers will get 17 games for his marks, so it's not exactly comparing apples and apples.
Rodgers needs 102 attempts in his final three games to reach Testaverde's mark, which is obviously within reach because he's on pace at the moment to pass Testaverde. If he averages more than 34 attempts per game he will pass Testaverde. But of course, to equalize Testaverde's 16-game season pace he'd need to average more than 51 passes for the next two games.
Rodgers needs just 38 completions over his next three games to catch Favre, which means he must average 13 completions per game to set the new franchise mark. That seems likely. And if Rodgers can average more than 18 completions in his next two game's he'll pass Favre's 16-game record pace. Rodgers would pass Ryan Fitzpatrick (335 completions) for second all-time in Jets history with 31 completions in Sunday's game against the Rams.
Rodgers needs 752 yards in his final three games to catch Namath, who obviously was on a much more prolific pace back in 1967, a 14-game season. Rodgers has already played 14 games. Still, Rodgers can become the first 4,000-yard passer since Namath (and the only other 4,000-yard passer in franchise history, remarkably) with 745 yards in his final three games, which he would do by averaging 249 passing yards per game. And he needs to average 251 per game to pass Namath for the most passing yards in Jets history.
Rodgers needs just 650 passing yards in his final three games to pass Fitzpatrick (3,905 yards in 2015) for second in Jets' single-season history. It's definitely doable, but no lock considering Rodgers has thrown for more than 250 yards in just five of his 14 starts. But he's done it in back to back weeks (for only the second time this year) heading into Sunday's Rams matchup.
Rodgers needs eight touchdowns in his final three games to tie Fitzpatrick's record. And he'd pass it with nine, which means he'd need to average three per game. That'll be no easy feat considering Rodgers has thrown three touchdowns in a game just twice in his time with the Jets. And, of course, he's not close to Fitzpatrick's 16-game pace. However, Rodgers (who has eight interceptions through 14 games) is on pace for only 10 interceptions while Fitzpatrick threw 15 in 16 games nine years ago.