CHECK OUT: Quarterback Aaron Rodgers is trying to do something very difficult this season-Exclusive

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers is trying to do something very difficult this season. He’s trying to win a Super Bowl at the age of 41. It’s not easy to play in the NFL at that age, or anything close to it. Last season, only two players over the age of 35 started at least 10 games: Calais Campbell of the Falcons (37), who is now in Miami, and Jason Kelce of the Eagles (36), who is now retired.

Denver Broncos fans who will see their team face off against Rodgers and the New York Jets on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET at MetLife Stadium, know all about players succeeding at an older age. Peyton Manning was 36 when he played his first season for the Broncos in 2012. The following year, Manning won his fifth MVP award. Two seasons later, at age 39, Manning helped lead the Broncos to a Super Bowl title.

I’ve ranked the top seasons in NFL history by players over the age of 35, and as you might have guessed, both Manning and Rodgers figure prominently on the list. For the sake of this exercise, we wanted to integrate non-QBs and we limited this to one season per player. We judged players by how well they played compared to the average player at their position rather than just their total value. And at the end, I took a look at the only five current over-35 players who’ve started all three games and picked out the one who is most likely to have the best over-35 campaign.

Let’s start the top-10 list with one of the most successful Cowboys.We don’t have advanced play-by-play breakdowns and metrics for the 1978 season (the advanced stats go back to 1979), but Staubach led the NFL in both passer rating (84.9) and adjusted net yards per attempt (7.2) that season. He finished fourth in the MVP voting while leading the Cowboys to an 11-4 record in 15 starts, an NFC East title and a trip to Super Bowl XIII. His 16 interceptions might seem like a lot by today’s standards, but Staubach ranked fifth-lowest among qualifying quarterbacks in interception rate for 1978.

Stats: 1,072 snaps, 95.6% pass block win rate, 75.2% run block win rate

It’s difficult to rank seasons by offensive linemen from the past because we didn’t have great statistics to measure them. I certainly considered Bruce Matthews with the 1998 and 1999 Titans, Andrew Whitworth in his last few years with the Rams and Bart Oates with the 1994 49ers.

However, I wanted Kelce on this list because of the “Brotherly Shove,” aka the tush push. Kelce was instrumental in making this nigh-unstoppable play work, and the Eagles ranked No. 1 in the league by converting 82% of short-yardage runs in 2023. They were also second in the fewest rate of running backs stuffed for a loss or no gain, and Kelce was chosen first-team All-Pro in his final year.

Stats: 82 tackles, 16 passes defended, 8 INTs, 2 defensive TDs

Woodson covered center field for the 2002 AFC champions and was a big part of the Raiders’ defense, which ranked eighth in DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average) against the pass. He was selected as a first-team All-Pro after leading the league with eight interceptions, including a career-high two pick-sixes. He also had three fumble recoveries.

Riley retired after one great final season at age 36. The Bengals weren’t a great pass defense overall, finishing 11th in DVOA, but Riley shut down opposing receivers. He was selected as a first-team All-Pro after grabbing eight interceptions with two pick-sixes, just like Woodson in 2002.

We don’t have who Riley was covering on every pass charted, but some of the best receivers in the league at the time really struggled against Riley and the Bengals. James Lofton of the Packers had just three targets with no catches. Cliff Branch of the Raiders caught one of six targets for 11 yards. Carlos Carson of the Chiefs — a Pro Bowler in 1984 with over 1,300 yards — caught four of seven targets for just 35 yards.Rodgers won his third MVP award in 2020, leading the Packers to a 13-3 record and an NFC North title. My advanced stats put him No. 1 in the league for that season in passing DVOA (value per play) and second in DYAR (total value). Rodgers led the NFL in passing touchdowns and tied for the league’s fewest interceptions among starters. He also led the league with 8.9 adjusted net yards per pass and a 71% completion rate. Rodgers won the MVP award again for a fourth time in 2021, but his 2020 season was better by nearly every metric.