The Pittsburgh Steelers visit the New England Patriots Sunday, and each team is looking for its second win of the season. It will be a challenge for the Patriots, says their head coach Mike Vrabel as he prepares to face Aaron Rodgers.
“His operation is excellent,” Vrabel said Wednesday via Patriots.com. “His ability to find relief throws in plays that he doesn’t think will be positive plays, he finds relief throws. It will be a great challenge to be able to find ways to affect him.”
Rodgers has seen two weeks of the 2025 season that have been very different. The first was wonderful, with Rodgers tossing four touchdowns passes in a win over the Jets and finding some wide-open receivers while doing so. Those same openings weren’t there in Week 2 against the Seahawks.
Arthur Smith schemed up a terrific game for Aaron Rodgers, but the offense’s limitations really showed. The offensive line struggled, and Rodgers just didn’t have a clean enough pocket to operate the offense like he’d hoped. Pittsburgh did run the ball better, but the lack of a run game has still been prevalent through two weeks.
Smith and Rodgers are only two weeks into their experiment together, though. Vrabel talked about Smith’s experiences with other quarterbacks, and how he’s playing to Rodgers’ strengths.
“I think Arthur’s done things with multiple quarterbacks,” Vrabel said. “I mean, is he doing what he did with [Desmond] Ridder when he ran zone read? No, but there’s also other elements that he’s done a lot of. And Aaron having played quarterback as long as he has, he’s gonna have things that he likes. And so I’d say it’s a blend.”
One thing Smith should get a lot of credit for is his flexibility with his offenses based on his quarterback. He has experience with a myriad of quarterbacks, ranging from Ryan Tannehill to Desmond Ridder and now Aaron Rodgers. Even last year, he did a good job of altering the offense with Justin Fields and then Russell Wilson starting.
Week 1 was a beautiful introduction, but things were much worse in Week 2. Smith wasn’t able to utilize Rodgers rolling out of the pocket as much, and the offense just couldn’t get into any kind of rhythm.
Yet, it’s just Week 3, and there’s plenty of time for things to blend even more. Arthur Smith is going to call his plays. But it would be foolish to not allow Aaron Rodgers to use his mind as a weapon at the line of scrimmage. For this marriage to work, the Steelers are going to need more from their offensive line and some of their skill-position players. Vrabel acknowledges the threat these two pose, but there’s certainly some work still to be done.
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