The Pittsburgh Steelers employ Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, which means the offense will look much different than it has in previous years. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing remains up in the air, as we still don’t know what the 41-year old version of Rodgers looks like.
With the New York Jets last year, Rodgers played a different style than we’re used to seeing from him. He still took his shots down the field, but the passing game operated quickly and he didn’t want to hold onto the ball too long. That could work for Pittsburgh this year. But former Steeler Ryan Clark thinks he’ll need to be less risk-averse to beat the Jets on Sunday.
“And to me, it’s gonna be, can Aaron Rodgers in some way play fearless?” Clark asked on ESPN’s NFL Live on Friday. “We know that throughout his career, he’s been risk-averse. The Pittsburgh Steelers don’t need that. It’s gonna be about Jaylen Warren, it’s gonna be about Kenneth Gainwell. Kaleb Johnson will play into that as well, the draft pick from Iowa. But can Aaron Rodgers put some juice into this offense?”
With the way this team is built, the Steelers don’t exactly need Rodgers to be throwing the ball all over the field. They’ve got a great defense on paper and a run game they hope can be dominant. In a lot of ways, the roster is similar to that of year’s past. The Steelers would love to win ugly games by playing strong defense, running the ball well and winning the turnover battle.
That said, taking care of the ball isn’t something Aaron Rodgers tries to do, it’s just in his nature. Over the course of 20 NFL seasons, Rodgers has thrown the ball 8,245 times, with just 116 career interceptions. That interception rate of just 1.4 percent isn’t just extraordinarily low, it’s the lowest mark in NFL history.
Still, there has been a shift in the way Rodgers has attacked defenses recently. He’s simply not able to extend plays like he used to. Instead, he’d love to dink and dunk his way down the field with quick passes. To his credit, a lot of old quarterbacks have won in similar situations. Both Tom Brady and Peyton Manning won Super Bowls at an old age, with great defenses and a similar mindset offensively. The Steelers probably aren’t having the same Super Bowl success this year. However, the blueprint is there, and they have the defense to boot.
Clark wants to see Aaron Rodgers unleash himself. That might happen as the season continues and chemistry grows. However, that’s not really the version of him we saw last year. And Sunday will be his first time throwing to his receivers in a game setting. Even if he does play more risk-averse, that can still give the Steelers an advantage this week.
