While not perfect, QB Aaron Rodgers offers the Steelers a glimmer of hope for the season, showing that he can still be that guy. Although the Steelers lost to the Bengals last Thursday, he put up 30-plus points and led a fourth-quarter comeback.
And yes, in case you’re wondering, you can register a fourth-quarter comeback and lose. All you have to do is come back from a deficit to lead or tie in the fourth quarter. If the defense squanders the lead you provided it, that’s not your fault. But anyway, moving on, I’m sure Rodgers isn’t too concerned about that right now.
And former NFL QB Ryan Fitzpatrick isn’t too concerned about Aaron Rodgers, either. Analyzing the game following the Amazon Prime broadcast, he liked what he saw. Not just from the quarterback, but also from the Steelers’ 13 personnel and how the offense operated within it.
He did knock Rodgers for his first interception, which the quarterback did himself, anyway. “Other than that, he played really solid”, Fitzpatrick said. “I don’t think the offense was the problem tonight, and the thing that I loved about Aaron that we haven’t seen a ton of this year was him moving around. He made reference to that, making plays, extending plays. That’s something that we haven’t seen a lot of him in the last two years. It was nice to see tonight”.
Rodgers showed the ability not only to extend plays against the Bengals, but to launch the ball down the field. For the first time really all season, the Steelers opened up the vertical passing game. And that did not come at the expense of yards after the catch, particularly on Pat Freiermuth’s second touchdown. He had two of the four touchdowns scored by the Steelers’ tight ends, in fact.
“The question that I had going into this game, can they stay in this 13 personnel”? Fitzpatrick asked. “Can they stay patient if they get down by a couple scores in the second half? They fell behind by two scores in the second half and they still did it. They still kept 13 out there, they were still able to run the ball, they were still able to get the ball down the field”.
The Steelers did use 13 personnel a fair bit, with Jonnu Smith out-snapping Darnell Washington and Freiermuth. All of them scored and otherwise made plays. Freiermuth even threw a block or two, believe it or not. Even Aaron Rodgers ran in front of a defender at one point, which is as good as a block, apparently.
Of course, it might be nice to have another playmaker at wide receiver, too, and I’m not sure Roman Wilson or even Calvin Austin III is going to make the cut. Austin seems to be on his way back, but will the Steelers make a trade? Rodgers has seemingly pushed to add another player, to some extent.
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