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Aaron Rodgers Had Three Miserable Moments in Steelers’ Loss to Patriots

Andy Nesbitt|
Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers’ offense had a rough day against the Patriots.
Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers’ offense had a rough day against the Patriots. | @CBS

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Pittsburgh SteelersNew England Patriots

Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers had hopes of going into New England on Sunday and making a statement early in the season against the defending AFC champs. Instead, the veteran quarterback wasn’t able to lead his offense to a single touchdown and Pittsburgh left town with a deflating 20–3 loss.

Steelers fans were hoping that the Rodgers and the offense would be humming to start the year, especially with head coach Mike McCarthy now in charge. But that hasn’t been they case as they’ve only scored one touchdown through the first two games. Defensive star T.J. Watt has the same amount of scores for Pittsburgh thus far, as he recorded a pick-six against the hapless Falcons in Pittsburgh’s Week 1 win.

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Rodgers had a rough day against the Patriots and his 42-year-old body will likely bit sore when he wakes up Monday morning. New England’s defense got to him a few times, including one of the hardest hits you’ll ever see a quarterback take.

Let’s take a look at the three worst moments from Rodgers’s day in New England.

Rodgers was lucky to escape a vicious sack in the second quarter without an injury

Rodgers had the Steelers’ offense driving down the field midway through the second quarter when disaster struck. Facing a third-and-seven from New England’s 27-yard-line, Rodgers dropped back to pass and was absolutely crushed by New England’s Christian Elliss and Robert Spillane. Rodgers lost control of the ball and his fumble was eventually recovered by Pittsburgh but for a huge loss, which led to a punt instead of a field goal attempt.

Here’s that play:

Here’s another angle that shows just how incredible it was that Rodgers wasn’t hurt on the play:

Rodgers talked about that hit after the game.

“I’ve learned you got to get up quick, number one, so they don’t try to send anyone out to get you," he said. "But yeah, that was definitely a shot. I haven’t taken too many of those in my career because usually I’ve got a feeling if we’re picked up or we’re not picked up and that was a lapse in communication, obviously, there.”

Rodgers then fumbled again in the fourth quarter and the Patriots ran it back for a touchdown

Rodgers was looking to get the offense going early in the fourth quarter when once again he was pressured in the pocket and lost control of the ball on a strip sack. This time New England not only recovered it, but Elijah Ponder ran it in for a touchdown that gave the Patriots a commanding 20–3 lead.

Here’s how that played out:

Rodgers’s last brutal moment wasn’t really his fault, but it was another turnover for the Steelers

Rodgers’s ugly day ended in fitting fashion as his short pass to Germie Bernard bounced off the wide receiver’s chest and landed in the hands of Patriots rookie linebacker Gabe Jacas, who was basically gifted the first interception of his NFL career.

What Rodgers had to say after the game about the Steelers’ struggles so far

After the game, Rodgers addressed the offensive struggles the Steelers have had through the first two weeks of the season and what they need to do as a unit to get things going.

“I think we’ve got to take ownership as players,” he said “We’ve got to be accountable to each other about our performance, mine wasn’t good enough [Sunday] and a lot of guys on offense weren’t good enough. So we’ve got to start with ourselves and not point the finger and not ride the roller coaster. It’s a long season, they’re a Super Bowl team from last year, we knew it was going to be a tough game. We had our chances. Our defense played excellent football—when they hold them to 13 points, we have to win the game. So it’s definitely on us to play better. But you’re not going to see me panic. I don’t think Mike’s [McCarthy] going to panic. Our urgency is going to go up a little bit, for sure. But no panic.”

The Steelers will look to rebound next Sunday when they host Joe Burrow and the Bengals, who had a big road win over the Texans in Week 2.

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Andy Nesbitt
ANDY NESBITT

Andy Nesbitt is the assistant managing editor of audience engagement at Sports Illustrated. He works closely with the Breaking and Trending News team to shape SI’s daily coverage across all sports. A 20-year veteran of the sports media business, he has worked for Fox Sports, For the Win, The Boston Globe and NBC Sports, having joined SI in February 2023. Nesbitt is a golf fanatic who desperately wants to see the Super Bowl played on a Saturday night.

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