The Pittsburgh Steelers have finished each of the last two NFL seasons with exactly 10 wins, after finishing the previous two campaigns with exactly nine wins. This level of playoff-scraping consistency has generated plenty of memes.
But on a surface level, a 10-win NFL season is often a success, especially for a Steelers team that hasn't had a longterm solution at quarterback over the past three seasons.
Pittsburgh still doesn't have a longterm option at the position, but they have a stopgap in future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers. While the idea of Rodgers sounds exciting, the 42-year old hasn't himself posted a winning season since 2021. Rodgers is 14-21 in his last three seasons, and one of those wins came in the infamous Week 1 game of 2023 where Rodgers ruptured his achilles after four snaps.
According to CBS Sports' Jeff Kerr, it doesn't really matter if Rodgers is playing like a future Hall of Famer.
Kerr took note of NFL minicamp overreactions around the league, deeming if they were truly overreactions, or a likely reality. For the Steelers, their overreaction was being a 10-win team with Aaron Rodgers, to which Kerr claimed was reality.
"Whether Rodgers is still elite or not is irrelevant; he's better than any quarterback Pittsburgh had on the roster." Kerr wrote. "The Steelers also have a some playmakers on offense in Jaylen Warren, DK Metcalf and Robert Woods -- along with an improving offensive line. Their defense also should be a top-10 unit (and likely will get the T.J. Watt holdout resolved sooner rather than later)."
Rodgers has a different look on offense than he did with New York last year. While he doesn't have the pairing of Garrett Wilson and Davante Adams at receiver, there are many worse parings than Metcalf and Woods. Pittsburgh's defense will also make up for a lot of Rodgers' potential shortcomings.
"Pittsburgh isn't elite, but this team is good enough to make the playoffs (the Steelers did make it last year with the Russell Wilson-Justin Fields combination)." Kerr added. "They should win 10 games with Rodgers at quarterback (if he stays healthy)."