Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers
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The Aaron Rodgers era in Pittsburgh is off to a rough start thanks to a leaky Steelers defense.
The game plan was pretty simple for the Pittsburgh Steelers entering this season. New quarterback Aaron Rodgers didn’t have to be Superman, but just being good would be enough for a team that should once again play stellar defense.
So far, Rodgers has more or less lived up to his end of the bargain, but the defense is a major issue. So much so that ESPN’s Brook Pryor called the defensive performance through two weeks “abysmal” and believes the issue is real and could linger as Pittsburgh’s season progresses.
“Despite fielding the league’s highest-paid defense by nearly $25 million, the Steelers’ defensive issues have been glaring through two weeks,” Pryor wrote in an ESPN.com story about the NFL’s biggest surprises through two weeks. ” … From top to bottom, the defense is abysmal, and there don’t appear to be any easy fixes on the horizon.”
Steelers’ Defense Has Been Major Red Flag Through Two Weeks
The Steelers haven’t exactly played high-flying offenses through the first two weeks, either. They were fortunate to escape Week 1 at MetLife Stadium with a 34-32 win over the New York Jets, and the Seattle Seahawks scored 31 points last week to spoil the Pittsburgh home opener.
The Steelers, as Pryor noted, rank 28th in rushing yards allowed per game, allowing 100-yard rushers in each of the first two games while struggling to generate any sort of pass rush on top of the run-game problems.
Rodgers, meanwhile, has been a mixed bag. Perhaps motivated by getting revenge on his former team, he was sensational in Week 1 against the Jets, completing nearly 75% of his passes for 244 yards and four touchdowns. He followed that up with a dud against Seattle, barely completing half of his attempts while throwing a pair of interceptions (and should have had a third).
Pittsburgh Not Making Rodgers’ Job Any Easier
For a half against Seattle, the plan looked to be working. Rodgers did next to nothing, but he did throw a touchdown pass in the final minutes of the half, and the Steelers took the 14-7 lead to halftime. However, the defense collapsed after recess, giving up 24 points to Sam Darnold and the Seahawks, underscoring the problem Pittsburgh faces right now.
“Sure, (Rodgers) can still throw, but I think he’s only going to thrive if circumstances around him are ideal, and right now they are not,” ESPN’s Dan Graziano argued for ESPN.com. “Fundamentally, this offense can be good, but I have my doubts about whether it can be great, which leads to my greater concern about the Steelers: How lousy the defense has looked through two games.”
He added: “The Rodgers experiment is only going to work if he’s supported by the Steelers’ traditionally strong defense and special teams, and they’ve been extremely disappointing in those two areas thus far.”
It doesn’t get much easier in Week 3. The Steelers are going to New England to take on the Patriots, who are coming off a strong showing in the best game of Drake Maye’s young career. After that, though, there’s reason for hope. An early bye following an Ireland game against a wounded Vikings team leads into a six-game stretch leading up to Thanksgiving in which they play Cleveland, Cincinnati (twice), Indianapolis and Chicago.
“I’m a believer in Mike Tomlin’s ability to manage his team through a season and get the most out of it. How could you not be, given his track record?” Graziano wrote.
“But we need to see some encouraging signs here soon.”