Aaron Rodgers looked his age in the worst way Sunday night. He was a major reason why the Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the Los Angeles Chargers. He didn’t look comfortable in the pocket, missing several throws that he would normally make. Rodgers also threw two interceptions, although one wasn’t really his fault. The Steelers’ offense as a whole had its worst outing of the season yet against the Chargers, and former NFL quarterback Matt Hasselbeck thinks it has shades of Rodgers’ stint with the New York Jets.
“I don’t know if Pittsburgh’s really that good,” Hasselbeck said Monday on FS1’s The Herd. “I think this offense looks like Aaron Rodgers with the New York Jets again. They abandon the run game once they get down inside the 10-yard line. It’s a lot of check-with-me-type stuff.
“The run is there, and Aaron’s trying to use his all-world arm and kind of has that arm arrogance in the red zone with guys like DK Metcalf. Just hand the ball off sometimes.”
The Jets’ offense is one of the league’s worst this season, but it wasn’t much better last season with Rodgers leading it. He only had one full season in New York, and it wasn’t pretty. On paper, Rodgers’ stat line doesn’t look awful. He threw for 3,897 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions in 2024.
However, the Jets had major issues offensively. There were many times when it looked like Rodgers was not on the same page as his playmakers. Also, he often looked uncomfortable in the pocket. Considering his age, that makes sense. Rodgers’ body has a lot of mileage on it. He doesn’t want to add any more wear and tear. However, that doesn’t excuse his poor play.
The Steelers saw that version of Rodgers in Week 10. He failed to make many of plays that he would’ve in his prime. Additionally, Rodgers’ decision making wasn’t great. Like Hasselbeck mentions, he tried to make too many throws that just weren’t there.
The biggest example of that was the Steelers’ fourth-down play in the red zone in the fourth quarter. They needed to at least convert and get a new set of downs on that play. However, Rodgers opted to throw to a double-covered Metcalf. That pass had a very low percentage of being completed.
Meanwhile, the Steelers’ run game looked alright, but it wasn’t used enough. Pittsburgh had 16 run attempts and 31 pass attempts. While some of that split is due to game circumstances, the Steelers had opportunities to run the ball more. The game wasn’t out of hand until the fourth quarter. With how poorly Rodgers was playing, the Steelers might’ve been better running the ball more.
We’ll see if Rodgers and the Steelers’ offense can bounce back in Week 11. They’ll play the Cincinnati Bengals, whose defense has been one of the NFL’s worst. Hopefully that allows the Steelers to get back on track.
Recommended for you