Much of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offseason was spent waiting for Aaron Rodgers to decide whether or not he was going to sign with them. While he eventually joined them, it wasn’t until late in the process. He didn’t have a ton of time to connect with his new team. Also, he didn’t play in the preseason. That led some people to wonder how well Rodgers would play in Week 1. He didn’t let any of that noise affect him, though. Rodgers played great, and Chris Simms believes that performance justifies the Steelers’ wait for him.
“That was encouraging for the Steelers, that there’s a pass game to rely on,” Simms said recently on his Unbuttoned podcast. “I can’t remember the last time talking about the Steelers where you go, ‘Wait, they didn’t run the ball, the defense didn’t create 25 turnovers, and they still won the game? How did they do that?’ This is a new age.
“Pittsburgh, this is why you fucking waited for Aaron Rodgers. This is why. Because you don’t win this game today with Mason Rudolph.”
Simms probably isn’t wrong. Rodgers completed 22 of his 30 passes for 244 yards and four touchdowns. It’s hard to imagine Rudolph replicating that stat line.
The Steelers needed every bit of what Rodgers gave them, too. They barely beat the New York Jets after their defense did not live up to expectations. That unit got cooked for most of the game. In recent years, the Steelers have usually had to rely on their defense to win games. That wasn’t the case for their season opener this year.
However, it might be a little early to heap so much praise on Rodgers. Yes, he was a crucial component of the Steelers’ victory. Winning in Week 1 wasn’t the Steelers’ ultimate goal this year, though. They waited for Rodgers because they believe he can help them win a playoff game.
This is a good first step, but the Steelers have a long season ahead of them. Hopefully, Rodgers can continue playing like he did in Week 1, but there’s a lot of work left for the Steelers to do. They’ve got some issues that they still need to clean up.
