Analysis: Tony Romo vs. Aaron Rodgers

Aaron Rodgers led the Green Bay Packers to a 12-4 record and an NFC North Championship in 2014.

His counterpart on Sunday, Tony Romo, led his Dallas Cowboys to a 12-4 record and captured the NFC East crown.

Romo also won his second career playoff game in the wildcard round against the Detroit Lions.

While Rodgers is 8-0 at next week's site of Lambeau Field this season, Romo is 8-0 away from Dallas this season.

Rodgers and Romo have both been mentioned in MVP talks this season.

How similar of a season have the two quarterbacks had?

Let's take a look with the help of PFF.

The statistics

Rodgers had a completion percentage of 65.6 percent in 16 regular season games. He also threw for 4,381 yards, 38 touchdowns and a remarkable 5 interceptions. Rodgers is also the only quarterback with a career rating of over 100. This season Rodgers turned in a rating of 112.2.

Tony Romo had a completion percentage of 69.9 percent in only 15 regular season games. He also threw for 3,705 yards, 34 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. Romo's rating for the season, was an impressive 113.2.

His career rating is also impressive at 97.6. The only person Romo trails in the category is Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers has a career rating of 106.0.

If you deep dive those stats, it is entirely pointless to blitz either quarterback. It seems as if Romo and Rodgers both thrive on the blitz. During the 2014 regular season Aaron Rodgers' rating when being blitzed was a staggering 127.1, while Romo wasn't far behind at 118.0.

Simple pressure divides the two in about the same distance. When under pressure Rodgers had a rating of 91.3, while Romo had a rating of 80.3. If the defense applies zero pressure, the results are as expected. Romo, however, trumps Rodgers in this category at a rating of 123.3 to Rodgers' 118.2.

Both quarterbacks measure at 6-2 on the height chart. While neither is short, they are not skyscrapers by any means either (don't tell Aaron Rodgers that in person, however). With that in mind, Romo only had 4 passes batted down this season, while Rodgers only had 3 more, giving him a total of 7.

Only four interceptions separated the two quarterbacks this season. The one stat that may shed some light on that margin, is the number of balls thrown away. Aaron Rodgers threw the ball away 19 times on the season, while Tony Romo only put the ball out of play 12 times.

Romo may have enjoyed some of the surest hands any quarterback has ever had to work with this year. Between all of Romo's targets on the year, the team dropped only 10 passes the whole season.

Rodgers did not enjoy that luxury at all this season. The Packers' receiving group tripled the Cowboys in dropped balls, dropping 32 of Rodgers' passes on the season.

Despite Romo's bad rap for turning the ball over, he is a very accurate quarterback. In 151 career games his completion percentage is 65.2 percent. Rodgers is only .6 percent above that in 41 less career games, at 65.8 percent. Tony Romo only throws an interception on 2.6 percent of his attempts. Aaron Rodgers only throws an interception on 1.6 percent of his attempts. Both quarterbacks have been deadly accurate over their careers.

Aaron Rodgers already has one NFL MVP Award under his belt. Rodgers also has a Super Bowl 45 championship and an MVP of that game as well.

Tony Romo won his second career postseason game against the Detroit Lions on Sunday. If Romo is to take that next step, he and the Cowboys must win at Lambeau on Sunday and potentially the following week as well.

If Aaron Rodgers is to cement himself among the greatest quarterbacks of all-time, he must add additional championships to his resume.

A loss at home in January against the Dallas Cowboys would not do Rodgers or any of his fellow teammates any favors.

A lot of questions will be answered at Lambeau Field on Sunday. One quarterback will climb another peg, while the other will remain in the same status.

It's all just another aspect of a great match-up between the two historic franchises of the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys.

This will be the first time the two have met in a playoff game at Lambeau since the "Ice Bowl."


Related links:
How could John Calipari do as Cleveland's coach?
5 takeaways from wild-card weekend
NFL winners and losers of wild-card weekend

For more sports coverage, please visit FanSided.com and follow Josh McPeak on Twitter: @VALambeauLeaper