The Green Bay Packers have something to play for beyond the season that ends in 2024, but two former franchise champions are chasing NFL milestones in the final two games of the season.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers and receiver Davante Adams – currently with the New York Jets – can achieve special goals and finish the 2024 season.
The Jets, who are 4-11 and eliminated from postseason play, end the season with a road game against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday and a home game against the Miami Dolphins next Sunday.
Rodgers has 499 passing touchdowns and is just one shy of becoming the fifth quarterback in NFL history to reach 500 passing touchdowns. Rodgers, a future member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, threw 475 passes in his career for the Packers.
QB with 500 career TD passes
1. Tom Brady, 649
2. Drew Brees, 571
3. Peyton Manning, 539
4. Brett Favre, 508
According to the NFL, Rodgers could join Manning as the only quarterbacks in NFL history to throw 500 touchdown passes in fewer than 250 career games. Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills will be Rodgers’ 247th career game. Manning 244 needed.
Rodgers and Adams also go down in history as a TD duo. The two enter Week 17 with 82 career touchdowns, including the postseason, which ranks third in NFL history. With one more, Rodgers and Adams will pass Dan Marino and Mark Clayton for third place all-time, behind Manning and Marvin Harrison (114) and Steve Young and Jerry Rice (92).
QB-WR touchdowns, including postseason
1. Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison: 114
2. Steve Young and Jerry Rice: 92
3. Dan Marino and Mark Clayton: 82
3. Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams: 82
5. Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown: 78
Rodgers and Adams produced 76 of the Packers’ 82 touchdown connections from 2014-2021.
Adams, selected by the Packers in the second round of the 2014 draft, recently caught his 100th career touchdown pass, becoming the 12th player in NFL history to score 100 or more touchdowns. He currently ranks 10th all-time with 102 touchdown catches, trailing only Mike Evans (103) among energetic players.
Rodgers, now 41, has thrown 24 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions in 15 starts this season. Since being traded from the Las Vegas Raiders to the Jets, Adams has recorded 56 catches for 719 yards and six touchdowns in nine games.
Both Rodgers and Adams face uncertain futures in New York beyond 2024. Rodgers is still debating whether he wants to continue playing in 2025, while both Rodgers and Adams have a history of unsavory and probably unsustainable teams that will likely hire a fresh general manager and head coach after a disastrous 2024 season.
