Aaron Rodgers was outstanding in his debut with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but unfortunately, he didn’t repeat that performance in Week 2. Rodgers was fine, making some big plays, but it wasn’t enough. The Steelers lost to the Seattle Seahawks, with their offense coming back down to earth. Former NFL head coach Herm Edwards offered his assessment of Rodgers’ play in Week 2.
“He was inconsistent,” Edwards said Monday on SportsCenter. “When you think about Aaron Rodgers, he likes playing from the pocket. He felt pressure at times; was not very accurate in the sense that he was using his arms too much.
“Didn’t plant his feet to throw, made a lot of awkward throws that he could generally make. He was sacked three times, got hit a bunch. And remember this, he always feels like he’s got to score points because of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense.”
That’s a fair breakdown of Rodgers’ day. He completed 18 of his 33 passes for 203 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. He had some good and bad plays, although it was more bad than good.
Perhaps Rodgers’ best play of the day ended up being a drop. In the middle of the first quarter, he escaped the pocket and launched a bomb down the field to Pat Freiermuth. The throw looked reminiscent of when Rodgers was in his prime. Unfortunately, Freiermuth couldn’t haul the pass in.
He made some other decent plays, too. However, he also made some mistakes. In the second half, the Steelers only scored three points. While that wasn’t all on Rodgers, he didn’t help. He didn’t drive the ball down the field as much, looking more indecisive.
Edwards’ point about pressure could help explain that. That’s a contributing factor to Rodgers’ inconsistent play. Through two weeks, he’s been sacked seven times and been under a ton of pressure. While Rodgers can still drive the ball down the field, he hasn’t had much time to showcase that ability.
Still, Rodgers’ play has mostly been encouraging. It was unclear how well he could still play at this stage of his career. If the Steelers can better protect him and give him a better run game, then Rodgers could be more consistent. It’s also only been two games. There’s still time for the Steelers’ offense to get on the same page.
