Since we last checked in with our QB heroes, the NFL has done little to dissuade the notion that we are watching one of the best and most efficient cumulative seasons of quarterback play in its history in 2020.
Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes have produced Total Quarterback Ratings that rank among the highest through 14 weeks since ESPN began compiling QBR in 2006. The league's 65.4% completion percentage is the best ever through that time period, as is its 2.15 touchdown-interception ratio. And deep throws have never been more likely to be completed. Quarterbacks are completing 38.3% of passes that travel at least 20 yards in the air -- the highest rate in 15 seasons of accumulated data.
That's as good of a reason as any to start handing out some late-season quarterback awards, using information from ESPN Stats & Information and NFL Next Gen Stats unless otherwise noted.
Better than Mahomes Award: Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
MVP voters will have their say after the season, but from a statistical standpoint, Rodgers leapfrogged Mahomes in Week 14 to sit atop the NFL's Total QBR rankings. He has done it by throwing a league-high 39 touchdown passes against only four interceptions, the fewest picks by any quarterback who has played the maximum of 13 games this season. Rodgers' completion rate of 69.6%, meanwhile, is the highest through 14 games of any season in his career.
Perhaps most fascinating is the mixed path Rodgers and coach Matt LaFleur have followed to get here. Rodgers has thrown the NFL's second-highest percentage of passes at or behind the line of scrimmage (30.8%), but he also ranks No. 14 of 33 passers with an average of 8.06 air yards per throw.
In other words, he is throwing more short passes relative to his total dropbacks than any quarterback in the NFL, but his average throw travels farther in the air than most. Why? Rodgers is attempting a disproportionate number of really long throws -- at least 20 yards in the air -- and has completed more of them (30) than any quarterback, including Mahomes (24).
LaFleur's commitment to the running game, or at least to play-action, also has paid off. Rodgers leads the league with 18 play-action touchdown passes. Speaking of play-action ...