Aaron Rodgers’ Retirement Tour Starts vs Falcons, Stefanski Knows the Danger

The first guest of the Aaron Rodgers retirement tour is the Atlanta Falcons.

The Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback will open his 22nd and final NFL season at home against the Falcons this Sunday, Sept. 13.

The four-time NFL MVP and one-time Super Bowl champion may have seen better days since being drafted in 2005.

But the aging star is not being overlooked by any means, says Atlanta head coach Kevin Stefanski.

“He still can make every single throw. He’s got as good an arm as anybody I’ve ever seen live. It’s unbelievable,” he described the 42-year-old to reporters on Wednesday, Sept. 9. “He can beat you with his mind. He’s just a terrific player.”

Stefanski has a sense of familiarity with Rodgers as an opponent.

While the first-year Falcons head coach moved up the professional ladder during 14 seasons as an offensive assistant and coordinator with the Minnesota Vikings, Rodgers was an NFC North rival, starring for the Green Bay Packers.

Rodgers had some of his best showings against Minnesota, with multiple four-touchdown, 300-plus passing-yard performances.

“I witnessed some unbelievable things that he’s able to do in terms of running right, throwing left across your body on the money 40 yards down the field,” Stefanski recalled watching Rodgers from the sidelines. “I’ve had a front row seat. He’s a Hall of Famer. You guys know how great he is. We respect the player that he is and the ways he can beat you.”

During Stefanski’s tenure as the Cleveland Browns’ head coach, Rodgers signed with Pittsburgh in 2025, making them divisional rivals again in the AFC North. They split their matchups last season. The Steelers won 23-9 last October, and the Browns returned the favor 13-6 two months in December.

By season’s end, Rodgers led the Steelers to the 2025 AFC North title and represented the division in the NFL playoffs, a first-round exit, in his first year with the team. He ended the regular season passing for 3,322 yards, 24 touchdowns, and seven interceptions.

All-time, Rodgers holds a 2-1 record over Stefanski’s head-coached teams, including their 2021 Christmas Day matchup, in which the Packers defeated the Browns 24-22.

Having crossed paths for 20 years, Stefanski has watched Rodgers’ maturation from Brett Favre’s replacement in Green Bay to an NFL superstar and now a seasoned veteran entering his last lap in the league.

“Any experience you get, any reps you get, you get better as a thinker, you get better as a processor,” Stefanski previewed Rodgers before Sunday.

“At this point in his career, you’re not going to fool him, you’re not going to show him something he’s ever seen before. You’re just going to have to be about your business and understand that he’s a great player; he will make his players. And I think that’s from his physical ability and the amount of reps that he’s had at this game makes his processing so elite.”

Rodgers is equipped with former All-Pro wide receiver DK Metcalf and newly acquired Michael Pittman Jr., a tandem Stefanski calls “big, physical,” and “fast.” In the backfield, Pittsburgh has a running back-by-committee led by Jaylen Warren and followed by Rico Dowdle.

Pittsburgh has a new head coach in Mike McCarthy, who coached Rodgers in Green Bay for 13 seasons and won the Super Bowl together in 2011.

Sunday’s Falcons-Steelers Week 1 opener kicks off at 1 p.m. in Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium. It’ll be televised on FOX.

The Falcons are 2-16-1 against the Steelers, their worst record against any NFL franchise. They’re searching for their first win over Pittsburgh since 2006, a 41-38 overtime win at the Georgia Dome.

Enjoy our content? Make FalconsOnSI a Preferred Source to see more stories from us on Google: https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=si.com

Add us as a preferred source on Google