'We Have a Chance in Any Game': Can Aaron Rodgers Keep the Steelers Rolling?

PITTSBURGH — There are things Aaron Rodgers can’t do at the creaky old age of 41 that he could do with ease just a few years ago. His legs are slower. His arm isn’t as strong. He surely feels the pain of the injuries he suffered the past few years.

What the Pittsburgh Steelers see, though, is what he can still do. They see the quickness of his release. They sense the sharpness of his mind. They feel the confidence he gives them just from his presence.

"Yes sir," said receiver DK Metcalf. "Especially when ‘8’ is in the gun, especially throwing the football, I always think I’ve got a chance."

The Steelers as a whole think they’ve got a chance with Rodgers. They're 4-1 and beginning to run away with the AFC North. They see themselves as a playoff team for sure, maybe even a Super Bowl contender.

But the question looming over their entire season, and especially their aging quarterback, is a difficult one to answer:

How long can it last?

That’s not just because of Rodgers’ age. It’s also because of what happened in Pittsburgh last season. Those Steelers were 8-2 in mid-November coming off a win over the Ravens that should have defined their season. They were 10-3 and cruising in mid-December, too.

Then, as quarterback Russell Wilson fizzled, Pittsburgh's season collapsed. The Steelers didn’t win another game, going 0-4 to end the regular season as they threw away the division. And then they capped it all off by losing their one and only playoff game to the Ravens on the road.

So they may be as optimistic now as they were early last season. But understandably, they’re a bit more wary of what could still go wrong.

"It’s still early in the season," safety DeShon Elliott said after Pittsburgh's 23-9 win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. "Last year, we were what, 8-2 at one time? Then we started s---ting the bed. 

"We have to keep stacking these wins."

That’s why the Steelers dumped the 36-year-old Wilson in favor of Rodgers, who’ll turn 42 on Dec. 2. They signed him, after a long offseason wait, because they saw signs of his ability and resilience during his second of two miserable years with the Jets. He looked fully recovered from the torn Achilles that ruined his 2023 season after just four snaps. And he managed to play through hamstring, ankle and knee strains that nagged him throughout 2024.

It's impossible for the Steelers to know if Rodgers will be consumed by similarly nagging injuries again, though at his age it’s certainly a concern. There’s also the question of how much he’ll be affected by what are some clearly diminished skills. 

That’s not to say Rodgers isn’t still an elite quarterback. It’s just clear he’s not as elite as he used to be.

For example, though Rodgers’ numbers against the Browns were good — 21-of-30, 235 yards, two touchdowns — he struggled often on mid-range and, especially, deep passes. His misses on the mid-range throws were often high or simply mistimed. The deep shots were more problematic, like one early in the second half when the Steelers were near midfield and Rodgers had Metcalf open, about five yards behind the Browns' secondary.

Metcalf had to hold up at about the 3-yard line to wait for Rodgers’ floater to come down. When it did, it fell incomplete.

Of course, Rodgers also hit Metcalf on a perfectly timed crossing route for 25 yards on the next play. And he ended that series with his best play of the game — a 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end Connor Heyward. On that play, Rodgers faked a handoff, rolled to his right, then waved at Heyward and Metcalf to try to direct one of them into the open field. Once Heyward moved, Rodgers fired a dart on the run, off his back foot, just beyond the reach of Browns safety Ronnie Hickman and right into Heyward’s hands near the back of the end zone.

"Connor is a really smart player, and I was just kind of, like, ‘Either you or DK, one of you guys see this and go that way," Rodgers said. "Connor did, and I put a decent ball on, and he made a nice catch."

It was a showcase of the elder quarterback’s eye for reading a defense, his ability to create a play on the run, and his still-potent arm and touch. And it’s the exact reason the Steelers have become believers. They don’t need Rogers to throw for 350 yards and hit every deep throw like he did in his Green Bay days. They know what he’s able to do now, at the tail end of his Hall of Fame career, and head coach Mike Tomlin and offensive coordinator Arthur Smith are content tailoring their offense to that.

"I think we're playing pretty smart football," Rodgers said. "I think Art got us into a good rhythm. When we take care of the football and don't turn it over, we're going to have a chance in any game."

If that sounds almost like the role of a game manager, it’s not quite that simple. It’s also a result of the way the Steelers have been built. Metcalf — whom they acquired in a trade from Seattle in March and who leads the team with 19 catches, 356 yards and four touchdowns — is their only real dangerous receiver. That’s why much of Smith’s plan for Rodgers seems to be a series of short passes to tight ends and dump-offs to running backs.

Against the Browns, with Calvin Austin out of the lineup with a shoulder injury, 10 of Rodgers' 30 throws went to receivers — including nine to Metcalf (four catches, 95 yards). Eleven went to his tight ends and eight went to running backs. That’s not exactly a high-octane, Packers-like, downfield passing attack.

But the Steelers believe Rodgers is getting comfortable in the scheme, and comfortable with what he can and can’t do at this stage of his career.

"I certainly think that's a reasonable expectation," Tomlin said. "With more exposure, whether you are young or old, experienced or inexperienced, particularly this collective journey that we're on, the more that you get an opportunity to play, certainly there's more comfort there."

What makes the Steelers comfortable is that their plan keeps their older, more fragile quarterback out of trouble — something he desperately needs because he doesn’t have the legs anymore to escape the pass rush. The Steelers’ offense is littered with play-action passes designed to keep defenses off balance, and Rodgers is constantly rolling out — usually to his right — to get away from the opponents’ best defender. That’s a big part of why he’s been sacked just twice in the past three games, and how the Steelers neutralized Browns star edge rusher Myles Garrett (no sacks, no quarterback hits) on Sunday.

Rodgers isn’t exactly immobile, but he’s clearly playing at a slower speed and less likely to take off on his own. There was a third-down play early in the second quarter that made that clear, when Rodgers rolled right and it appeared that the entire Browns defense had committed to that side, too. So he turned back to the left where no defenders were. He had a chance to out-race Browns linebacker Carson Schwesinger to the sidelines and pick up the three yards he needed for a first down.

But Rodgers looked like he was running in slow motion and the defense closed in fast. So he abandoned his scramble and flicked a dangerous, backhanded pass to running back Jaylen Warren instead. It probably wasn’t the decision he would’ve made in his Packers days, but it worked. The Steelers got the first down.

The long-term worry, though, is whether Rodgers and this offense can work under those circumstances all season long. So far, obviously, so good. Rodgers has completed 68.8% of his passes for 1,021 yards, 10 touchdowns and just three interceptions. But he still hasn’t topped the 244 yards he threw against the Jets on Opening Day. And the Steelers are averaging just 277.8 yards per game, making them statistically the fourth-worst offense in the league.

It's working for them for now. But again, how long can it last? The early momentum and division lead they’ve built certainly matters. But unlike last year, they need to keep it all from falling apart.

"We're putting ourselves in the position, right, to start entering the conversation," Rodgers said. "But a lot can happen. There's a lot of time between now and December football. December football is when you want to be playing your best."

They have to get to December first, which may not be so easy. Rodgers is still good enough and smart enough to help the Steelers win a lot of games. They’re clearly betting that he’s even capable of leading them on a playoff run.

But Rodgers isn’t just battling opposing defenses anymore. He’s battling time. And at his age, there’s always a looming danger that it’s about to run out.

Ralph Vacchiano is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He spent six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him on Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.

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