There were three quarters of putrid football played by the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. Despite playing in front of a mostly Steelers crowd on the road in Tampa, the Steelers went into the fourth quarter trailing by two scores. It was the all-too-familiar playing down to your competition on the road-type game.
Enter Rogue Rodgers.
Aaron Rodgers went 7-of-8 passing for 57 yards on the overtime drive and the touchdown to Germie Bernard. He ate up valuable time to force rookie counterpart Jalon Daniels to have to hurry down the field on the Buccaneers drive.
Rodgers orchestrated four scoring drives for the Steelers in the fourth quarter after being hurried on what seemed like every drop back against the Buccaneers. Both tackles were turnstiled repeatedly throughout the day and didn’t make it easy for the 42-year old quarterback.
He didn’t continue his 3+ touchdown streak. His final line won’t “wow” many people. 33-of-49 for 253 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Heck, the offense looked really out of sync early on and wasn’t even trying to push the ball down field. That falls on Rodgers.
But when the game was on the line and the Steelers needed it, Aaron Rodgers prevailed and carried the team back to take them to 4-2 and match the rest of the AFC North sans the Bengals who were on a bye.
I could argue that the first six games of this season beats any stretch of six games Rodgers played last season. Is it that another year removed from the Achilles injury has him more confident? Does having a receiver he trusts infinitely like DK Metcalf make the difference?
I don’t care about his views. I don’t care about his age. Spare me all of that. I’m looking at this objectively from the lens of what he’s doing for the Pittsburgh Steelers and he’s got them playing some solid offensive ball.
Jaylen Warren has been the catalyst. He was relatively held quiet on Sunday and Rodgers took over in fourth quarter and overtime. That’s what future Hall-of-Famers do. The consistent MVP-like performances aren’t going to suddenly come back. That’s just how things work for a 42-year old. That doesn’t mean he’s not capable of turning back the clock when he needs to.
He’s got Metcalf. He’s being forced to trust Bernard with all the injuries right now and Bernard is rewarding that faith and then some. Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington form a pretty formidable tight end duo. Rico Dowdle is an established back to complement Warren. Rodgers has the weapons at his disposal. That’s without mentioning the injured wideouts Roman Wilson and Michael Pittman Jr.
The schedule ramps up considerably after these next two weeks. Rodgers will face the New Orleans Saints in Paris and then he’ll have a chance to avenge the loss to the Browns back at home on November 1st. Neither of those are “easy” games but the Steelers will be favored in both.
Rodgers will likely have the same cast of characters to throw the ball too and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Steelers fish around for a short term addition to the wide receiver room. Regardless, Rodgers has the Steelers offense performing well enough to win games.
There’s not a quarterback on the roster right now that would provide the level of play that Rodgers is giving the Steelers at the moment. I don’t care how big of a Drew Allar or Will Howard truther that you are. If you truly believe it, maybe in time they can be. They aren’t this good right now.
Rodgers’ mobility certainly leaves a lot to be desired. He’s snuck out of trouble on a few occasions and did so again today. But when he has time to process, the 42-year old gunslinger still has the arm talent to win football games. Will that equate to anything more than a first-round exit for the Steelers? Honestly, if the defense doesn’t clean things up, then it probably won’t.
But Aaron Rodgers is doing his part.