The Pittsburgh Steelers forced five turnovers and Aaron Rodgers threw two TD passes, including a game-winner, to beat the New England Patriots 21-14, and secured Rodgers a place in the NFL record books. It happened in the second quarter, on a 12-yard pass to DK Metcalf that was all toe-tapping grace and singular focus, moving the ball just enough. That throw weighted a Packers legend behind it, the 509th TD pass of his career, officially pushing him past Brett Favre on the all-time list.

And just like that, Rodgers became the newest member of the 500-club, joining a collection of titans like Tom Brady (649), Drew Brees (571), and Peyton Manning (539). The fact that this all happened on the road at Gillette Stadium, a place where legacies are made and broken.

As Rodgers earlier put it, a lot of players are involved in such a feat. “Some touchdowns, you make exceptional plays,” he said. “Some, the scheme is so good, like the one to Jaylen Warren in the game, all I got to do is not screw it up,” as he tries to fix the O-line even further. And the rub? Rodgers has a point. It is a testament to longevity. Yet the truth stings: he did it in a way Favre never could. Look, Favre had 508 passing TDs, but he also had a staggering 336 career interceptions.

He was the fearless gunslinger, a guy who lived for the dramatic, off-balance throw that might either win the game or lose it spectacularly. He was the emotional heartbeat that revived a floundering Green Bay franchise in the ’90s. When he arrived, the Packers were a relic, a team lost to decades of mediocrity. Favre’s passion, his brute-force willpower, and his ironman streak, all 297 consecutive starts, brought the Lombardi Trophy back to the frozen tundra after 30 years, an achievement that can’t be understated. 

Aaron Rodgers: The efficiency king

When Rodgers entered the fray in 2005, he inherited a team built on that foundation, but also a fanbase still emotionally tied to its fiery patriarch. The transition was fraught, the pressure immense. And for his part, Rodgers chose a different path. Aaron Rodgers became the precision passer, the efficiency king. He reached the same TD milestone as Favre but did it with a fraction of the interceptions (119), got the best TD-INT ratio of 4.34, and a career passer rating over 100. 

He waited, calculated, and found the open receiver with surgical accuracy. This difference in philosophy, a contrast between grit and grace, defines their respective legacies to this day. Favre is loved for the emotion he brought back to the game, the audacity with which he played. Rodgers is revered for his mastery, the kind of quiet brilliance that made every throw a work of art. And interestingly, the Packers are one of the eight teams, who claim three Hall-of-Fame quarterbacks. So, can Rodgers be the next? If yes, they will join the Chicago Bears, who are in second place with four Hall-of-Fame quarterbacks. First being the Giants with five HOF QBs.

With 510 career TDs after the game-winner, Rodgers has a realistic shot at climbing even higher on the all-time list, (he [63,448] also passed Philip Rivera [63,440] for 6th most passing YDs in a regular season) with Manning’s 539 within striking distance if he plays this well this season. With Jordan Love currently the man in Green Bay, at 65 Passing TDs and a long road ahead, the franchise hopes to continue the QB dynasty. 

The spectres of both Favre and Rodgers now hover over Green Bay, a city that has known almost nothing but Hall-of-Fame play for three decades. And as Rodgers continues his career in Pittsburgh, the final chapter of that epic tale remains unwritten, under Tomlin and his unhinged calls.