Pittsburgh Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers had one of his best individual performances of the season during the Steelers’ Week 7 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, and former NFL QB Kurt Warner was especially impressed with Rodgers’ mobility and arm strength. On NFL Gameday Morning, Warmer praised Rodgers’ “vintage” performance.
“We’re seeing the vintage Aaron Rodgers in terms of getting out and creating throws, making big-time throws,” Warner said. “We weren’t seeing it necessarily at the early part of the season, but what we saw last Thursday, if he can continue to do that the rest of the season with those throws down the field from in the pocket, it’ll be fun to watch him down the stretch.”
Coming off Achilles surgery, Rodgers wasn’t as mobile as he used to be last season, but it started to show up down the stretch with the New York Jets. In Pittsburgh, Rodgers admitted that his body wasn’t fully right early in the season, but since the bye week he’s feeling like himself. That’s shown up on the field with increased mobility in both of Pittsburgh’s games after the bye week.
Some of Rodgers’ success getting out of the pocket and finding receivers downfield last week could be attributed to the Bengals’ lack of a pass rush. Rodgers was upright and had a clean pocket to work with for the majority of the game, and he was able to extend plays and wait on receivers to get open. It’ll be interesting to see just how much Rodgers’ mobility shows up tonight against the Green Bay Packers and star EDGE rusher Micah Parsons.
But it’s undoubtedly a positive for the Steelers that Rodgers is now showing the ability to operate more outside the pocket and use his legs to extend plays, even taking off and scrambling when he absolutely has to. If his mobility holds up throughout the season, the Steelers will be able to run a consistently good passing attack for the first time in a long time.
The Packers represent a good test with Parsons and Rashan Gary, and it’ll be worth watching to see just how much Rodgers tries or is able to use his legs against a team with a much more impressive front than Cincinnati. But if he continues to show some escapability and make plays on the move, the Steelers could be in good shape going forward.
