Aaron Rodgers started off well in his first game against the Green Bay Packers, but overall, he had a middling game in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 35-25 loss. As a whole, the Steelers were awful in the second half. Their offense made some plays in the first half, but it came out flat after halftime, and the Steelers were outscored 28-9. Former NFL corner Asante Samuel Sr. believes that Micah Parsons was the reason why Rodgers began to struggle.
“Micah Parsons had Aaron Rodgers terrified for the rest of the game after that first sack,” Samuel said Monday on his Say What Needs To Be Said podcast. “It was something that happened during that first sack that got Aaron Rodgers off his game.
“It was like Micah Parsons was in the front of his mind. He tried to play with more patience in the pocket during the second half. But it led to more sacks and quarterback pressures. Rodgers couldn’t get his mind off of Micah. You could see how antsy his feet were towards the end of the game.”
The Packers sacked Rodgers three times. Parsons recorded one, while Rashan Gary notched the other two. Parsons’ sack came on the Steelers’ first offensive play of the fourth quarter. At that point, the Steelers were only down 22-19. With around 14 minutes left in the game, Rodgers and company had plenty of time to retake the lead.
However, following that Parsons sack, the Steelers’ drive stalled. They went three and out. After that, the Packers drove down the field and scored another touchdown, going up by 10 points.
The Steelers’ next drive ended in similar fashion, not picking up a single first down. Rodgers got sacked on third down, too. At that point, the game felt over.
Parsons was a difference maker. While he only had one sack, his presence helped free up others. Rodgers certainly had to be aware of him on every play, especially once the pass rusher started heating up.
Earlier this season, the Steelers had a good plan to minimize Myles Garrett’s impact. He was basically a non-factor against the Steelers. They had a similar mindset against Parsons, but they were unable to limit him like they did with Garrett.
That was likely due to how the Packers used Parsons. After he didn’t have a huge presence in the first half, the Packers moved their star pass rusher around. That gave the Steelers fits. While Parsons didn’t wreck the game, his presence was certainly felt.
Also, the Steelers only ran the ball three times in the second half, which gave Parsons more chances to tee off on Rodgers. After a few solid performances, the Steelers’ offensive line didn’t hold up against the Packers. That wasn’t the team’s biggest problem, but it was an issue.
