It was Aaron Rodgers’ worst game of the season. By extension, that made for the Pittsburgh Steelers offense’s worst game of the season. A miserable performance that tallied just three points while the game was competitive, Rodgers finished the game completing barely more than half his passes. He threw two interceptions, one of which was his fault and one of which wasn’t, and could not move the ball on third down. For beat writer Mark Kaboly, the warning signs were immediate.
“There was something off about him immediately,” Kaboly said on 93.7 The Fan Tuesday morning. “When you watched that game, if you saw the first quarter, something’s just not right. I don’t wanna say engaged. I would say more like he just didn’t, it didn’t look like something was going on correctly from that first sack to some of the poor throws.”
Rodgers and the offense struggled out of the gate. Repeatedly, the Steelers were gifted with strong field position only to squander it. The Los Angeles Chargers kicked out of bounds on the opening play to give Pittsburgh the ball at the 40. The offense went three-and-out. Their next possession started at the Chargers’ 46. The Steelers mustered five yards and settled for a 59 yard Chris Boswell field goal.
Those would be all the points Pittsburgh would score until Roman Wilson’s touchdown with 2:57 to play.
Rodgers’ throws were high throughout the game. His first interception was forced over the middle and he attempted to feed DK Metcalf the ball even when he wasn’t open. Receivers did him little favors with drops and an inability to get open.
“When you’re expecting a 41, almost 42-year-old quarterback to lift you out of that, sometimes you need some help,” Kaboly said. “And I don’t know if this team is equipped to give him as much help or support he needs in times where he’s not at his best.”
Clearly, the answer on Sunday was no. But for the Steelers to bounce back, it begins with Rodgers. It’s hard for any team to win when the quarterback struggles as much as he did.
The silver lining is Rodgers has come back from bad games before. After a terrible London showing last year, Rodgers bounced back to throw for 294 yards and two touchdowns in a narrow loss to the Buffalo Bills the following week (the infamous “red line” game). After throwing two picks against Pittsburgh last season, Rodgers fired two touchdowns and no interceptions against New England the game after.
The calluses of Rodgers’ 250 career starts makes for a short memory, something he and everyone else will need to beat the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday.
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