Aaron Rodgers impressed a lot of people in his Steelers debut on Sunday. He threw for four touchdowns, spread the ball around and gave the Steelers their best quarterback play in years. However, that might not happen for much longer, former GM Mike Tannenbaum worries.
“He’s 41 years old, he was sacked four times today,” Tannenbaum said Sunday night on ESPN’s SportsCenter. “It is not sustainable. The Pittsburgh Steelers have four offensive linemen that have three or less years of experience, and that could matter, because he can not get hit as many times as he did today. I’m also concerned about the sustainability, because of the fragility of a quarterback who’s 41.”
When he had time, Rodgers played really well. He completed 22-of-30 passes, and in addition to his four touchdown passes he did not throw an interception. There’s been a couple of impressive performances from former Steelers quarterbacks in the last few years, but Rodgers has been the first to look truly dangerous behind center since Ben Roethlisberger.
However, there are still plenty of concerns about the offense. Rodgers was sacked too often, and the Steelers couldn’t run the ball as much as they wanted to because they simply could not open up any holes. The Steelers’ offensive line struggled at both run and pass blocking, and Rodgers did take a few hits.
Things could improve over the course of the season, but the inexperience on the line showed MetLife Stadium. Especially with Broderick Jones. Protecting Rodgers’ blindside, he’s arguably the most important part of the line. He had some really bad reps on Sunday, not encouraging start to his third NFL season. That’s especially concerning, considering the edge rushers the Steelers will see this season. Jones is still going to have to face players like Trey Hendrickson and Myles Garrett twice each.
Again, the Steelers’ offensive line is extremely young. Those players have plenty of potential, but until that’s realized their inexperience is only going to hurt the Steelers. They’ve got to hope it doesn’t physically hurt Rodgers in the meantime.
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