Aaron Rodgers vs. Packers on 'SNF': Here's how other legendary QBs did against their longtime former team

The 2025 season has been a historic one for Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who is on the precipice of possibly making even more history when Pittsburgh hosts his former team -- the Packers -- on Sunday night. 

Rodgers, who earlier this season passed former teammate Brett Favre in career touchdown passes and former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in career passing yards, will become only the fifth quarterback in history to beat all 32 NFL teams if he can defeat the Packers in a matchup between two first-place clubs. 

Steelers' Aaron Rodgers says he will end his career 'with Green Bay' ahead of Sunday's showdown vs. Packers

Bryan DeArdo

The four-time league MVP will become the fifth Hall of Fame-caliber quarterback to face his former longtime team. Ironically, one of the previous quarterbacks to do so was Favre when the Vikings faced Rodgers' Packers during the 2009-10 seasons. Joe Montana, one of Rodgers' childhood idols, also faced his longtime former employer during his second (and ultimately final) season with the Chiefs.  

For the most part, the previous four quarterbacks had successful first games against their former longtime team. Their teams were 3-1 in those games, which included Favre's first win over the Packers during the 2009 season. 

Notable QBs vs. former longtime team 

• Joe Montana, 1994 

Montana went 19 of 31 for 203 yards and two touchdowns in leading the Chiefs to a 24-17 win over the 49ers in Week 2 of the 1994 season. Montana outdueled his former teammate, Steve Young, who committed three turnovers and was sacked four times. 

Young would rebound from that loss by leading the 49ers to their first Super Bowl title since 1989. In the process, Young won his second league MVP in three years and was also named Super Bowl MVP after throwing six touchdown passes against the Chargers while breaking Montana's previous Super Bowl single-game touchdown pass mark. 

• Brett Favre, 2009 

Favre ripped the Packers' defense to shreds in Week 4 of the 2009 season. In front of a primetime audience, Favre went 24 of 31 for 271 yards and three touchdowns while accumulating a 135.3 passer rating in Minnesota's 30-23 win. 

While Favre received sterling protection (he wasn't sacked), Rodgers was sacked eight times, with Hall of Fame pass rusher Jared Allen being responsible for 4.5 of those sacks. But despite the constant pressure, Rodgers still managed to throw for 384 yards and a pair of touchdowns. 

It was a similar story a month later when Favre made his first and only appearance at Lambeau Field with the visiting team. He threw four touchdown passes with no picks while leading the Vikings to a 38-26 win. Minnesota's offensive line, once again, did not allow a sack of Favre, while the Vikings' pass rush, once again, got to Rodgers, who was sacked a half dozen times. Rodgers still held his own by throwing three touchdowns. 

Green Bay flipped the script in 2010, sweeping the Vikings in what turned out to be the final year of Favre's illustrious career. The 2010 season ended with the Packers' win over the Steelers in Super Bowl XLV. 

• Peyton Manning, 2013

Manning had an emotional return to Indianapolis in Week 7 of what was his second season as the Broncos' quarterback. In a high-scoring game, the Colts recorded a 39-33 win while handing Manning's Broncos their first loss of the season. 

While both Manning and Andrew Luck threw three touchdown passes, neither one was very accurate on a day when emotions were high. Manning was especially off, as he threw 20 incompletions, was sacked for a safety and threw a pick that set up a Colts field goal. 

Manning's misery against his former team continued in 2014, when the Colts shocked the heavily favored Broncos in the divisional round of the playoffs. That loss largely overshadowed Manning's lone win over his former team, which came in Week 1. 

In 2015, Manning faced his former team one last time in Week 9, with the Colts once again coming out on top in a tightly-contested game. Manning would finish the season -- and his career -- on a high note, though, after he and the Broncos defeated the Panthers in Super Bowl 50. 

• Tom Brady, 2021 

Brady's only game against the Patriots came on the heels of his seventh Super Bowl win and his first without his longtime coach, Bill Belichick. 

As he often did, Brady led the Buccaneers on a game-winning drive that included a key third-down completion to Antonio Brown. Tampa Bay's 19-17 win included 269 yards from Brady on just 22 of 43 passing. 

Brady played OK, but the Buccaneers' top offensive player that night was running back Leonard Fournette, who ran for 92 yards and also caught three passes for 47 yards. 

On Sunday night, Rodgers will become the latest Hall of Fame-caliber quarterback to face his longtime former team. And while he has acknowledged that this won't be just any other game, Rodgers has also made it clear that he has no hard feelings towards the Packers, a team with which he enjoyed tremendous success during their 18 years together. 

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder," he said this week. "I have a lot of great memories from my time there. There have been a lot of great interactions with fans over the years. You know, living in Green Bay, living in Suamico, living in Hobart, going to Chives, being out and about, seeing people at the Piggly Wiggly when I'm shopping for groceries.

"I grew up there. I spent 18 years there, from [age] 21 to 39. So I'm thankful for my time there."