Aaron Rodgers
Aaron Rodgers
Aaron Rodgers hasn’t been perfect, Mike McCarthy knows, but neither has his supporting cast, including his offensive line. While his receivers are not making plays—often dropping them—the pass protection has limited his effectiveness through two games. This may be the single biggest thing that has to change on offense, the Steelers head coach suggested.
“We’ve got to give Aaron [Rodgers] better platforms to throw off of and have the opportunities”, McCarthy told reporters after the game, via the team’s website. “Because I don’t want to dink and dunk all day and play keep-away football. There’s a place for that, maybe situationally, but that’s not the philosophy”.
Notably, Rodgers has thrown the ball down the field several times, failing to connect on any of them—some due to drops, some due to defenders interfering without penalty. And the quarterback has missed some, too, of course. But there have been far too many plays on which he can’t even get the play off as intended.
According to Pro Football Focus, Aaron Rodgers has been under pressure this season 29 times on 86 dropbacks. Frankly, I think that number is going to go up when they review yesterday’s game more thoroughly. When pressured, he has gone 9-for-22 for 109 yards with 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. He really struggled yesterday in particular, posting an average depth of target of just two yards when pressured.
“We have to attempt to get the ball thrown downfield”, McCarthy said. “If you look closely at it, we did. I thought actually Aaron [Rodgers] a few times got the ball down to the backs on the underneath throws. But detail’s not there on offense”.
In other words, they don’t have to just attempt deep passes, they have to hit on them. The Steelers have had some opportunities, the likes of DK Metcalf and Roman Wilson struggling to come down with some contested balls. Rodgers can do more, too.
But what the entire offense needs is for the offensive line to provide the unit with better structure from which to work. The Steelers haven’t gotten the run game going yet, and that’s far more due to what the line isn’t doing than the backs.
So many times yesterday, we watched the Patriots successfully force Rodgers to move in the pocket—or out of it. Repeatedly resetting and changing angles, it’s hard to get into a rhythm even for a future Hall of Fame quarterback. And it doesn’t help that he took some gnarly hits as a result of the unit’s performance.
Rodgers getting CRUSHED #Steelers pic.twitter.com/Rmvk5iVdnz
— Steelers Depot 7⃣ (@Steelersdepot) September 20, 2026
Rodgers stripped, Pats scoop and score #steelers #NFL pic.twitter.com/aUKTlwxjo4
— Steelers Depot 7⃣ (@Steelersdepot) September 20, 2026
The Steelers don’t have vintage Aaron Rodgers, and that means they don’t have his mobility, either. While he is looking reasonably spry for his age, it is imperative that they provide him a structure in which he can use his greatest asset, which is his mind. He needs time to scan the field and hit his marks, and right now, the offensive line is hindering that. Until that improves, we’re going to be wishing for Matt Canada, apparently.