Even the biggest believers in Aaron Rodgers might not have expected him to toss four touchdowns in the season-opening win last Sunday. Despite being 41 years old, Rodgers picked up where he left off during the tail end of the 2024 season and threw the ball all around MetLife Stadium. It’s a performance that reminds Adam Schein of the old version of the legendary quarterback.
“Rough day for the haters,” Schein said on his Schein On Sports show on Tuesday. “Aaron Rodgers is alive, and really, really well. Aaron Rodgers was absolutely vintage… He was efficient, dominant… Using the depth, the talent, the back-shoulder vintage Aaron Rodgers throw, I mean, that was like Jordy Nelson, Davante Adams kind of memories. That was unbelievable stuff.”
When he was younger and more of an athlete, Rodgers made his living with those back-shoulder throws. Schein mentions his past receivers, and back then, he could make every throw in the book in their direction and create on his own once plays broke down. Despite having a less-proven receiving core in Pittsburgh, Rodgers got nearly all of them involved on Sunday.
Coming into the 2025 season, many didn’t expect him to do that. Rodgers is obviously older and also has his Achilles injury two years back in his rearview mirror. However, some of the throws he made really did look like the old version of himself. He won’t threaten you with his legs anymore, but Rodgers did make several good throws on the run. He threw his patented back shoulder balls a couple of times as well, and while not all of them worked out, he was putting the ball on the money.
This was our first glimpse at what an Aaron Rodgers and Arthur Smith pairing might look like. Most expected Rodgers to get off to a slow start, having never thrown to these receivers in a game before and being dominated by the defense for a large part of training camp. However, Smith’s offense looked terrific when passing the ball. And Rodgers made all the plays necessary to come home with a win.
Is it reasonable to expect Rodgers to throw four touchdowns every week? At this stage in his career, no. And there were plenty of problems offensively that still need addressing. This marriage won’t reach its full potential if the Steelers can’t block or run the ball. From Aaron Rodgers’ perspective, though, things couldn’t have gotten off to a better start.
