When the Pittsburgh Steelers took the field against the Los Angeles Chargers, they had a chance to keep a small cushion in the AFC North with a win. That did not happen as they lost to the Chargers, 25-10. The defense tried to give the Chargers fits and sacked QB Justin Herbert five times. But Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers had one of the worst games of his career. It was definitely the worst of this season.
To his credit, Rodgers took the responsibility for the offense’s ineffectiveness against the Chargers. But Rodgers failed to perform at the level he had prior to Sunday night. And that’s a cause for concern as the Steelers fall to 5-4. And analyst Steve Palazzolo is questioning whether this is the start of Rodgers’ age-induced decline.
“I think we assume that the 40-year-old’s gonna age by just throwing ducks,” Palazzolo said Monday on Check The Mic. “And it’s not necessarily the case. I feel like this Rodgers game was the 40-year-old regression game. We saw it a little bit with [Drew] Brees. I think you lose a little bit of the internal clock, I think you just lose some of the feel. I think that’s where the 40-year-old stuff is gonna show up. It’s not gonna show up, and he’s only throwing 80 miles an hour instead of 90, in baseball terms. It’s not the velocity, it’s the feel.
“It’s like, ‘I’m going to get rid of the ball a little quicker than I should under pressure.’ A couple of overthrows here and there, he had DK open a couple times down the field, and he missed him. He’s just off, accuracy-wise.”
Palazzolo isn’t kidding about Aaron Rodgers just missing WR DK Metcalf a couple of times Sunday night. Rodgers’ first interception was the most glaring example. The Steelers trailed the Chargers 5-3 with just over two minutes remaining in the first half. Rodgers dropped back to pass and spotted Metcalf, who had a step on his defender on the right hash. But Rodgers sailed the pass over Metcalf and right into the arms of Chargers S R.J. Mickens.
The Aaron Rodgers INT! #Steelers #NFL pic.twitter.com/eU3uhfBCnj
— Steelers Depot 7⃣ (@Steelersdepot) November 10, 2025
Rodgers had other throws that he missed high, including one on which he had Metcalf open for a walk-in touchdown. It was a miserable offensive performance, and Rodgers was at the heart of it. His performance was bad enough that former NFL RB LeSean McCoy says that he needs to call it a career after this season.
Is Aaron Rodgers done? Will we look back at this game and say this is where Rodgers showed he was done? We don’t know. This could just be one game, and he could be fine the next. But the cracks in Rodgers’ armor are showing.
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