On February 6, 2011, the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers would be linked forever as opponents in Super Bowl XLV. The two storied franchises, who hadn’t both made a conference championship game in the same season since 1997, met in a memorable Super Bowl, with the Packers being victorious 31-25. The matchup featured the league’s top 2 defenses in 2010, as well as two quarterbacks who are likely to be in Canton someday in Aaron Rodgers and Ben Roethlisberger.
Rodgers had one of the best performances of his career, finishing with 304 yards and three touchdown passes. His fourth quarter completion to Greg Jennings is arguably the most important throw of his career.
With 31 days left until the start of the NFL season, let's look at this absolute laser from Aaron Rodgers to Greg Jennings to pick up a 31 yards and shift momentum during Super Bowl XLV. pic.twitter.com/q0aGJXHCNa
— r/GreenBayPackers (@redditPackers) August 9, 2021
The game was the last Super Bowl appearance for both franchises. The Packers and Steelers are two of just seven franchises with at least four Super Bowl wins. The others in that category are: Patriots 6, 49ers and Cowboys 5, Giants and Chiefs 4. There have been 49 different matchups in Super Bowls, as the Steelers have made the second-most appearances with eight and the Packers have five.
Sunday’s matchup, a Super Bowl XLV rematch, will be memorable now for another reason: it will be Aaron Rodgers against the Green Bay Packers. Rodgers will join the likes of Joe Montana, Brett Favre, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning as former MVPs and Super Bowl champions to go against their former team.
This season, Rodgers joined Russell Wilson as the only former Super Bowl winning quarterbacks to join the team they defeated in the Super Bowl. Wilson was traded to the Denver Broncos in 2022, a team his Seahawks beat in Super Bowl XLVIII. Rodgers joined the Steelers this offseason after two forgettable seasons with the New York Jets.
Ironically, Sunday’s game will be the first Packers at Steelers game to feature Aaron Rodgers since 2009.
The last two times the Packers played in Pittsburgh, the starting quarterbacks were Brett Hundley (2017) and Jordan Love (2023). The 2017 contest was also on NBC’s Sunday Night Football.
The Packers are 0-3 in Acrisure Stadium (more famously known as Heinz FIeld), all three losses coming in the final seconds. They also lost their last three games at Three Rivers Stadiums, with losses in 1980, 1986 and 1998. The last time the Packers won in Pittsburgh was all the way back in 1970. It was a 20-12 win, where the starting quarterbacks were Bart Starr and Terry Bradshaw.
THROWBACK: 1970, the last time the Packers beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh #Steelers #NFL pic.twitter.com/7KBtmCbgfZ
— Steelers Depot 7⃣ (@Steelersdepot) October 21, 2025
A win on Sunday, which would break a 55-year drought in Pittsburgh, would also be the team’s second straight road win, after starting the season 0-1-1 on the road. The Packers, who currently hold the NFC’s No.1 seed over a group of seven two-loss teams (Lions, Bears, Eagles, 49ers, Rams, Seahawks, Bucs), are going to need as many road wins as possible to keep pace with those other teams. Especially since the Packers will play nine road games in 2025, and just eight home games.
Packers at Steelers since 1970
Year Winning Team Losing Team Score Packers QB Steelers QB
2025 Jordan Love Aaron Rodgers
2023 Steelers Packers 23-19 Jordan Love Kenny Pickett
2017 Steelers Packers 31-28 Brett Hundley Ben Roethlisberger
2009 Steelers Packers 37-36 Aaron Rodgers Ben Roethlisberger
1998 Steelers Packers 27-20 Brett Favre Kordell Stewart
1986 Steelers Packers 27-3 Randy Wright Mark Malone
1980 Steelers Packers 22-20 Lynn Dickey Terry Bradshaw
1970 Packers Steelers 20-12 Bart Starr Terry Bradshaw