Lance Briggs may have been one of the most underrated linebackers of his generation.
Briggs starred for the Chicago Bears for 12 seasons (2003-2014), mostly alongside Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher. It was Urlacher who received much of the acclaim, winning Defensive Player of the Year honors at one point. However, it was Briggs who also led the Bears in total tackles in multiple seasons while also leading them in average value during the 2004, 2005 and 2008 seasons.
During Briggs’ decade-plus career in Chicago, he was a model of consistency, going to seven straight Pro Bowls (2005-2011) while being named an All-Pro selection three times (2005, 2006 and 2009).
That means during Briggs’ career, he matched up with all of the top quarterbacks in recent memory during their primes, including Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers. When asked who is the toughest quarterback he ever faced, Briggs didn’t hesitate — he named former Green Bay Packers star and current Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers as the toughest ever.
“Yes,” Briggs said of Rodgers being the toughest quarterback he ever faced. “Twice a year, pinpoint accuracy. He can fit it in any window and would challenge you. Audibles at the line of scrimmage. He knew how he wanted to attack.”
Aaron Rodgers Managed to Exceed Expectations as Brett Favre’s Successor
Rodgers became the starting quarterback of the Packers in 2008, taking over for Brett Favre, who was also one of the best quarterbacks of all time. Despite the lofty expectations that came with inheriting the position from one of the all-time greats, he managed to exceed even Favre’s storied legacy, winning four MVP’s, which is one more than Favre’s. Only one player in NFL history — Manning — has more MVP’s at five.
Briggs’ comments coincides with Urlacher’s comments from a couple months prior in which he also stated that Rodgers was the toughest quarterback he ever faced.
Brian Urlacher Also Agrees That Aaron Rodgers is Toughest QB He Ever Faced
“It’s Aaron (Rodgers), because we played him twice a year,” said Urlacher when asked about the toughest quarterback he faced. “I played Peyton maybe two or three times, I think Tom (Brady) as well. Aaron was the biggest pain in the ***. Like I said, the mobility, and we played well against them sometimes. He also had some great games against us.”
Briggs’ respect for Rodgers as former divisional rivals is so vast that he hesitated to compare current Bears star quarterback Caleb Williams to Rodgers. Even though both are of similar statures with the ability to extend plays due to their mobility, Briggs doesn’t believe you can compare the two quarterbacks.
“No, I think Aaron was a pure passer,” said Briggs. “It didn’t matter where he scrambled left or scrambled right. His completion rate didn’t decline at all. It was one of the craziest stats I’d ever seen in my life in preparing for him. A lot of times you get a quarterback to scramble both sides, typically one side, his completion rating on one side is not as great as the other. Aaron Rodgers was pretty much 100% no matter where he threw the ball from. Yeah, so it’s a detail for us because we’re trying to figure out how we want to blitz them, how we want to attack them, and it didn’t matter.”
We’ll see how Williams continues to develop throughout his career, but it’s pretty clear that Briggs holds Rodgers in extremely high regard. The 42-year-old quarterback has already stated that this will be his last season.
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