John Elway rode off into the sunset with his second Super Bowl trophy in 1999; he wants to see Aaron Rodgers do the same. While their respective careers are not entirely parallel in multiple ways, they share one key thing in common. They were old dogs still in the hunt. Elway showed it could be done, winning Super Bowls in each of his final two seasons.
Rodgers’ situation is different. He won a Super Bowl fairly early, in Year 6. Now in Year 21, he’s still looking for his second ring. And he’s in pursuit of it with the Steelers, the team he beat to claim his lone title thus far. Elway played from start to finish with the Broncos, but he believes Rodgers has one key advantage in 2025. Put simply: there are no juggernaut teams this year, certainly not in the AFC.
“There’s always that potential” of Rodgers winning with the Steelers this year, Elway told Poker Strategy. “It’s a good spot for Aaron, because [the Steelers] want to play good defense. They want to run the football. They’ve taken some pressure off him to where he doesn’t have to carry the load. At his age, he’s not a young chicken anymore”.
“He’s living his life and it would be great to see him go out with a championship”, Elway added of Rodgers.
After some early bumps in the road, the Steelers are playing better defense, and the run game is improving. Aaron Rodgers has done his part, too, throwing 10 touchdown passes on the season. He ranks third in the NFL with a 7.2-percent touchdown rate, behind Lamar Jackson and Jared Goff. And despite having already had a bye, he is still in the top 10 in total touchdown passes.
After being held to under 75 rushing yards in each of their first three games, the Steelers have rushed for 100-plus in two consecutive contests. And they’ve done it with a mixture of Kenneth Gainwell and Jaylen Warren, with the odd contribution here and there. TE Jonnu Smith, for example, contributed a 10-yard run, Connor Heyward converted a “Tush Push”. All of it is good news for Aaron Rodgers, Elway says.
“I’m sure he likes that running game and the support around him”, he said. “This league is so close, and every team’s got a good football player, but to have the experience of somebody like Aaron Rodgers with his mindset, him being a champion, him knowing that the end of his career is close, I’m sure that he would love nothing better than to be able to close this thing out with a Super Bowl championship”.
And as Elway noted, the NFL lacks a “standout favorite” team this year. Everybody has already lost, and only three teams are at least 4-1 or better. The Buccaneers and Colts are somehow both 5-1. Yet the Bills are 4-2, behind in the standings to the Patriots, while the Ravens are shockingly 1-5. While the Chiefs have begun to rebound, they have only just gotten back to .500 at 3-3. Meanwhile, Rodgers is one win away from tying his total from the past two seasons combined, so he can’t complain. Unless it’s about the field, or Thursday games, of course.
