Rodgers’ NFC North Interception-Free Streak Ends

Aaron Rodgers hadn’t thrown an interception in a division game in a long, long time. But he did late in the first half on Sunday against the Vikings.

MINNEAPOLIS – Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw an interception on Sunday against Minnesota, breaking an impressive NFC North streak.

Late in the first half, with the Packers trailing 17-0, Rodgers threw a desperation heave toward Randall Cobb. Harrison Smith made the leaping grab.

During his 12 division games the past two seasons, Rodgers threw 38 touchdown passes and zero interceptions. He tossed 18 touchdowns and posted a 137.5 rating in 2021 and 20 touchdowns with a 128.5 passer rating in 2020.

The 137.55 rating was the best by a quarterback against division opponents since at least 1990. The 128.5 was the sixth-best. He also had marks of 137.50 in 2014 (18 touchdowns, zero interceptions) and 134.69 in 2011 (17 touchdowns, one interception). All four of those seasons resulted in MVPs.

Rodgers’ last interception against a division opponent came in the 2019 finale at Detroit.

“The pick was a real dumb decision by me but the play was a good play and we totally blocked it wrong,” Rodgers said after the 23-7 loss.

Rodgers ended last season with seven consecutive games of two-plus touchdown passes and zero interceptions. That was tied for the second longest streak in NFL history behind Tom Brady’s nine-game run in 2010. That streak is over, too, with the interception.

The Packers were trailing 17-0 at the time of the interception and headed into halftime.

“Just like all the other teams in the NFC North,” Rodgers said on Wednesday, “it seems like every single year, I think their fanbase and their teams feel like, ‘This is our year to win the North.’ Hasn’t really been the case during my time, for the most part.”

Here are the NFC North standings during Matt LaFleur’s three-year run as coach before Sunday:

Packers: 39-10 (three playoff appearances, three winning records).

Vikings: 25-24 (one playoff appearance, one winning record).

Bears: 22-27 (zero playoff appearances, zero winning records).

Lions: 11-36-2 (zero playoff appearances, zero winning records).

Entering the game, Rodgers had thrown 57 touchdowns vs. seven interceptions against the Vikings and needed one touchdown pass to become the fifth player in NFL history with 450 for his career.