Aaron Rodgers
Aaron Rodgers
With the NFL season beginning this week, it’s the time of year for analysts to make their picks and predictions for how the season will play out.
That’s exactly what The 33rd Team’s Steve Palazzolo and Sam Monson did on Check The Mic this week, and Monson wouldn’t rule out a big season from Aaron Rodgers.
Though Monson said he doesn’t fully see it happening, he did admit there’s a “tiny piece” of him that thinks Rodgers and the Steelers could put together a big year.
“They could. I just don’t really see it. There’s a tiny piece of me that thinks that this Aaron Rodgers, one last dance thing…you can’t rule out the idea of knowing this is his last go-around, that he’s on this resolution tour of making things right with everybody that there’s one last bit of magic for Rodgers this season.”
“It’s a possibility that it all comes together, I just don’t think it’s likely.”
Palazzolo said the “post-Tomlin unknown” makes it difficult to predict how the Steelers will perform and put them third in the division behind the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens. Monson said he ultimately doesn’t have a ton of confidence in the Steelers and thinks they’ll just be “OK.”
Rodgers will turn 43 in December and hasn’t been a top-tier quarterback in the NFL in a long time. But with him making it clear this is his last season, for real this time, there could be some extra motivation. But motivation doesn’t suddenly bring back some of the physical ability that gets lost with age, and Rodgers will likely be closer to the last season version of himself than how he was with Mike McCarthy in their first go-around together with the Packers.
That doesn’t mean the Steelers can’t be successful. They won the AFC North at 10-7 last season and the offense only got better.
With more weapons, it’s only natural to expect Rodgers’ numbers to improve even if he isn’t one of the league’s best quarterbacks. But in a tough AFC North, the general consensus is that the Steelers are behind the Ravens and the Bengals, and that’s how Palazzolo and Monson ultimately see things playing out.
They did mention that the Steelers’ defense should be better after back-to-back years when it has underperformed, and the motivation to play for Rodgers in his last season could carry the Steelers to another playoff berth. While the chances are very slim, a magical run from Rodgers can’t be ruled out.