{"id":106719,"date":"2022-10-24T17:08:17","date_gmt":"2022-10-24T17:08:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/tom-brady-aaron-rodgers-are-struggling-like-neither-could-have-imagined-in-twilight-of-their-hall-of-fame-careers\/"},"modified":"2022-10-24T17:08:17","modified_gmt":"2022-10-24T17:08:17","slug":"tom-brady-aaron-rodgers-are-struggling-like-neither-could-have-imagined-in-twilight-of-their-hall-of-fame-careers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/tom-brady-aaron-rodgers-are-struggling-like-neither-could-have-imagined-in-twilight-of-their-hall-of-fame-careers\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers are struggling like neither could have imagined in twilight of their Hall of Fame careers"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Aaron Rodgers was sprawled out, face planted in the turf, defeat washing over him.  Tom Brady stood with hands on his hips and his head staring down at his cleats, the picture of frustration and failure.<\/p>\n<p>Two no-need-for-debate Hall of Famers, two pathetic losses in a season where that&#8217;s become the norm and Super Bowl dreams are becoming a fantasy.<\/p>\n<p>Rodgers and his Green Bay Packers lost to Taylor Heinicke and Washington, 23-21.  Brady and his Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost to PJ Walker and Carolina, 21-3.<\/p>\n<p>Both teams are 3-4 in a conference that now looks to run through Philadelphia, New York or Minnesota, not these two.  Rodgers is 38 years old.  Brady is 45. Both are playing to win Super Bowls, not just hoping they can find something so far unseen in their teams in order to squeak, somehow, into the playoffs.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, the two looked animated and even angry \u2014 Brady notably screaming at his offensive line.  Sunday felt more like bitter resignation had begun to set in.<\/p>\n<p>They mumbled under their breath.  They stood passively on the sidelines.  They looked out of answers, if not out of energy to find them.  Rodgers still talked a good-game \u2014 \u201cI&#8217;m not worried about this squad.\u201d  Brady didn&#8217;t seem capable of mustering the effort.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo one feels good about where we are at,\u201d Brady said.  \u201cNobody feels good about how we played or how we are doing.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"caas-figure\">\n<div style=\"\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"caas-img-container caas-img-loader noheight\"><noscript><img alt=\"Tom Brady and the Buccaneers are far beneath their Super Bowl aspirations at this point in the season, but it doesn't seem like there are any easy fixes.  (Photo by Eakin Howard\/Getty Images)\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/hfLoMIujS_bby1Am2Gdgeg--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2022-10\/fce54e80-53ac-11ed-bc6d-2ee0552348e2\" class=\"caas-img\"\/><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><figcaption class=\"caption-collapse\">Tom Brady and the Buccaneers are far beneath their Super Bowl aspirations at this point in the season, but it doesn&#8217;t seem like there are any easy fixes.  (Photo by Eakin Howard\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Their teams aren&#8217;t good.  Their teammates aren&#8217;t good.  And neither, if both are honest, are good either, at least not good enough to lift these rosters into anything.  Surrounded by a ton of talent \u2014 the kind Brady sought in Tampa Bay when he left New England in 2020 \u2014 they might still be able to do something.  Neither is, though.<\/p>\n<p>Tampa Bay&#8217;s only saving grace for the season is that even at 3-4, it is tied for first in the dreadful NFC South.  Even then, Brady isn&#8217;t here to somehow back into the playoffs at 8-9 and get crushed.  The man has seven Super Bowl titles and a New York Post full of off-field issues to deal with.<\/p>\n<p><button class=\"link caas-button collapse-button\" aria-label=\"\" title=\"\" data-ylk=\"elm:readmore;slk:Story continues\">Story continues<\/button><\/p>\n<p>Yesterday the league&#8217;s greatest winner lost to a team that had fired its coach, traded its best player, dropped 12 of its previous 13 games \u2026 and was starting at quarterback an undrafted free agent out of Temple with two career touchdowns.<\/p>\n<p>And it wasn&#8217;t close.<\/p>\n<p>Green Bay, meanwhile, is a full 3.5 games behind the Vikings in the NFC North, to whom they lost in Week 1. It still has to visit Buffalo and Philly, among other parts of a challenging schedule.  Rodgers may not be as old as Brady, an outlier in longevity, but he&#8217;s hitting the age where quarterbacks generally fade from effectiveness.<\/p>\n<p>Yet perhaps in need of help, he doesn&#8217;t have Davante Adams or much talent at receiver (four drops against Washington).  His offensive line is a mess (only one starter Sunday started the week prior in the same position).  The run game is almost non-existent (38 yards on Sunday).  Rodgers had just 47 passing yards in the first half and zero third-down conversions against Washington.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s not winning football,\u201d Rodgers said.<\/p>\n<p>If there is one thing these two know about, it&#8217;s winning football.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"caas-figure\">\n<div style=\"\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"caas-img-container caas-img-loader noheight\"><img class=\"caas-img caas-lazy has-preview\" alt=\"Aaron Rodgers and the Packers are losing, and they're not used to that in Green Bay.  (Photo by John McDonnell\/The Washington Post via Getty Images)\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/WTUOKmBf32eEnAIpPCKKjA--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2022-10\/27d60b20-53ad-11ed-ac75-ad98885802c9\"\/><noscript><img alt=\"Aaron Rodgers and the Packers are losing, and they're not used to that in Green Bay.  (Photo by John McDonnell\/The Washington Post via Getty Images)\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/WTUOKmBf32eEnAIpPCKKjA--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2022-10\/27d60b20-53ad-11ed-ac75-ad98885802c9\" class=\"caas-img\"\/><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><figcaption class=\"caption-collapse\">Aaron Rodgers and the Packers are losing, and they&#8217;re not used to that in Green Bay.  (Photo by John McDonnell\/The Washington Post via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>In seasons as the starting quarterback, Brady has never had a losing season and put up at least 10 victories in 19 of his 20 campaigns.  Rodgers has had just two, one of which was his first year as a starter.  It&#8217;s a major part in what makes this so stunning.  It&#8217;s not just that the NFL is used to seeing these two compete deep into January and February, these dual towers of consistent excellence.  It&#8217;s that they almost never look bad or overmatched.<\/p>\n<p>In this case, it&#8217;s even worse.  What fixes are even possible?  And even if both somehow rally to go 6-4 or 7-3 the rest of the way, is that good enough for what they are playing for, which is everything?<\/p>\n<p>Tampa Bay can&#8217;t run the ball \u2014 46 yards against the Panthers.  It can&#8217;t protect Brady in the pocket, and he can&#8217;t scramble.  There is no speed on the outside.  It&#8217;s scored more than 21 points just once this season.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Green Bay is headed to Buffalo as a 10.5-point underdog, the biggest margin ever for Rodgers in the NFL.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis might be the best thing for us this week,\u201d Rodgers offered, hoping the \u201cno expectations\u201d card will somehow help.<\/p>\n<p>Except this is Green Bay.  And Tampa Bay.  This is Rodgers and Brady.  There will always be expectations.  There will always be a spotlight.  Losing streaks that don&#8217;t happen to them, are happening to them.  It&#8217;s open season on them.<\/p>\n<p>Old and upset, they both appear to be flailing about in end-of-career struggles that maybe neither ever imagined could happen to them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Aaron Rodgers was sprawled out, face planted in the turf, defeat washing over him. Tom Brady stood with hands on his hips and his head staring down at his cleats, the picture of frustration and failure. Two no-need-for-debate Hall of Famers, two pathetic losses in a season where that&#8217;s become the norm and Super Bowl &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/tom-brady-aaron-rodgers-are-struggling-like-neither-could-have-imagined-in-twilight-of-their-hall-of-fame-careers\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers are struggling like neither could have imagined in twilight of their Hall of Fame careers<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":74273,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/aaron-rodgers-says-his-tablet-situation-was-different-from-tom-bradys-in-one-key-regard\/","url_meta":{"origin":106719,"position":0},"title":"Aaron Rodgers says his tablet situation was different from Tom Brady&#8217;s in one key regard","date":"September 22, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Aaron Rodgers had not yet seen the video of Tom Brady throwing a tablet on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sideline during a frustrating portion of Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints in the third quarter.But on Wednesday, the Green Bay Packers quarterback wanted to note\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":78684,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/bucs-jumbotron-showed-something-it-probably-shouldnt\/","url_meta":{"origin":106719,"position":1},"title":"Bucs Jumbotron showed something it &#8216;probably shouldn&#8217;t&#8217;","date":"September 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"After destroying two Microsoft Surface tablets in Week 2 against the Saints, Tom Brady may need to turn his focus to a bigger piece of technology: the Raymond James Stadium Jumbotron. Because according to Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers \u2014 the fellow future Hall of Fame QB who bested Brady's Buccaneers,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Aaron Rodgers","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/09\/aaron-rodgers-3.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":99269,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/aaron-rodgers-and-tom-brady-showing-their-age\/","url_meta":{"origin":106719,"position":2},"title":"Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady showing their age","date":"October 17, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"At the fantasy draft table this summer, I often settled for a boring middle-tier quarterback option. I didn't need a buzzy young star or an emerging prospect. I'd get my sizzle elsewhere. Now we're six weeks into the NFL season, and so many older name-brand quarterbacks are taking down our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":115238,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/nfc-contenders-pounce-as-tom-brady-aaron-rodgers-uncharacteristically-faded\/","url_meta":{"origin":106719,"position":3},"title":"NFC contenders pounce as Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers uncharacteristically faded","date":"November 2, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"As the NFL trade deadline drew closer, the NFC's top teams glanced around the conference lair.Two perennial dragons, they realized, may not lie ahead to slay.Because for the first time in their careers as NFL starters, neither Tom Brady nor Aaron Rodgers is a safe bet to make the playoffs.Brady's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/ckjSKf8xi.Sd0u7Nk_ZblQ--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyMDA7aD04MDA-\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2022-10\/b45827f0-53ac-11ed-bfed-505b4f155b92","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106719"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106719\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}