Aaron Rodgers Has 2 BIG PROBLEMS That Are Holding The Steelers Back (And It’s Not What You Think)…

Aaron Rodgers Has 2 BIG PROBLEMS That Are Holding The Steelers Back (And It’s Not What You Think)…

Steelers quarterback Aaron Rogers currently has two big problems in his game that are not only holding him back, but holding back the Steelers offense as a whole right now. And I don’t think it’s what most Steelers fans think it is right now. So, on today’s show here on Steelers Talk, first I’m going to talk about what isn’t the problem. I’ll talk about some of the kind of popular talking points surrounding Rogers and why I think those are wrong. Then I’ll talk about the two real issues that I think Steelers fans should be focusing on. Then I’m going to let you guys know whether Steelers fans should have hope for Aaron Rodgers as we head down the home stretch of the 2025 NFL season. Now, kick us off down there in the comments section. Do you believe in Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers? Give me a yes or a no down there in the comments section to get today’s show started. All right. So, first let’s just take a look here at the general numbers that Aaron Rodgers has put out for the Pittsburgh Steelers this season. And so far, when you look at the entirety of the big picture of what he’s put on tape, he’s been a below average NFL starting quarterback. All right? He doesn’t rank really in the top uh 16 and really any of the major categories. And in many of the key categories, he’s like bottom 10. So, you know, especially over the last three weeks, I would say his numbers have taken quite a bit of a dip. And you know, when you look at the entire big picture over the entirety of the season, this is what you come up with where he’s not super successful. He’s not u you know, super efficient. He’s not super accurate. You know, he’s he’s kind of around league average at best in these categories. And he’s you know, in many of these categories, bottom five or or bottom 10 among starters right now. So, you know, what exactly is the problem? And that’s what we’re going to be discussing on today’s show. And first, I want to tell you guys what’s not the problem. I think that there’s a lot of different uh narratives surrounding Aaron Rogers out there and you know some of them are going to are correct and we’re going to talk about some of those points later in today’s show but there’s also a couple narratives that I believe are wrong. All right, the first one is that it’s Aaron Rodgers’s age or that you know his body is deteriorating and that’s why you know he hasn’t played as well over the last month and he hasn’t played you know really you know top 15 level football this year. Don’t think that’s the case. and then uh his pocket management and quote unquote holding the ball too long is a kind of a new one uh that has popped up. I’ll explain why I don’t think either of these are the issue for Aaron Rogers. All right, first of all, talking about the first point, Aaron’s arm is still extremely live. I mean, anybody that’s been around Rogers this year tells you about how, you know, quickly the ball comes out, how it’s still, you know, a really good spiral, how it, you know, the arm strength is clearly still on there. He threw a ball 70 yards in the air on a Hail Mary earlier this season. Obviously, you know, his rotational throwing motion and all that different stuff. It has really translated to him still having his arm strength and, you know, despite him not being the fastest guy in the world anymore. I mean, he’s 41 years old. He doesn’t really have, you know, any speed to run away from players anymore. He does have very quick and active feet in the pocket. And, you know, his footwork has been a big uh point of contention here over the last uh couple days. uh especially on Steelers Twitter, but honestly his feet have been uh you know praised by guys like John Gruden, for example, who put who tweeted this out earlier this year just a couple weeks back. Watching Aaron Rogers play quarterback reminds me of a boxer in the ring talking about his quick feet. His feet are always moving. It’s a joy to watch. So this is actually something that is considered a good thing when quarterbacks have quick feet. Aaron Rogers has always had that as a part of his game. People are talking about Aaron Rogers like he has quote unquote happy feet or that he’s quote unquote jumpy and you know it’s negatively affecting his game, but he’s literally always played that way and it’s been one of the actual benefits to his game for many many years. And by the way, nobody talked about this when he was playing better earlier in the season. Uh but now that he’s starting to struggle, it’s all of a sudden becoming a talking point. And that really is the new narrative now. I mean, I see it time and time and time again on Steelers Twitter now, guys, where I keep hearing people saying he’s holding on to the ball too long. He’s creating his own pressure. He’s doing all this stuff, you know, he’s not sticking in the pocket, quote unquote, and it’s hurting the offense. Now, I think that the reason why this narrative has become uh has come to the for forefront is because, you know, he was holding the ball for longer than he usually does against the Cincinnati Bengals last week. He had the by far the longest average time to throw for him on the season, 3.4 49 uh average time to throw versus the Bengals, which was I mean over a half second longer than any other average that he had this season. His next highest was also against the Bengals uh when he had one of his better games of the year, by the way, uh with 2.91 second average time to throw. So, um, you know, certainly, uh, you know, Rogers was holding the ball for a little bit longer than what we’re used to seeing from him last week, but it has not been something that has created more pressure necessarily. His pressure rate versus the Bengals on Sunday was less than 30%. And like the average is like a 35 or 36% uh, pressure rate. So, so in terms of the amount of pressure Rogers was facing and was quote unquote creating for himself, it was still at a below league average rate. Um, so I I don’t know why that this has become a big talking point with Rogers. I think people are just looking at kind of the quicker feet and they they’re not used to seeing quarterbacks play with the kind of footwork Rogers plays with and they just think automatically that that’s a negative thing and they kind of attribute that to Rogers’s poor play. But like this has not been an issue for Aaron Rogers this year, guys, okay? Like he’s he gets the ball out very quickly. He currently leads the NFL in the fastest average time to throw at just 2.59 seconds. And then his pressure rate is only at 28.9 this year, which is the lowest in the National Football League. So, uh, you know, this is not something that has been a big issue for Aaron Rogers. In fact, it’s been a big upgrade compared to what the Steelers dealt with last year with Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. You guys can take a look at their sack percentages and their pressure percentages with their time here in Pittsburgh. I mean, Russen Fields were like not even in the top 35 in sack rate and pressure rate. Aaron Aaron Rogers is above league average in sack percentage and he’s first in the league in pressure percentage. Now, obviously a higher percentage of the times that he is pressured, he ends up getting sacked because he’s not very athletic. He can’t escape as well as he used to. But the fact that he’s getting the ball out quickly is meaning less sacks for the Steelers offense this year from a percentage basis. And that has overall been a positive for the Pittsburgh Steelers offense and an upgrade for the Steelers offense compared to what they’ve dealt with in seasons past. Now, coming up here, I will be discussing two big problems that Aaron Rogers currently does face in his game that I think is holding him back and is holding the Steelers offense back as a whole. But before we get into those two big problems, let me know down there in the comments section for today’s pin question. What do you guys think is Aaron Rodgers’s biggest issue? Let me know what you guys think down there in the comments section for today’s pin question. Just a second here, I’m going to tell you about our sponsor today at Harry’s. And while I tell you about Harry’s, make sure you get down there in the comments section and let me know what you think A-Rod’s biggest problem is. Now, uh, with that, let’s have a word from our sponsor today at Harry’s. And I don’t have to tell you guys that maneuvering the men’s razor space, uh, is a bit of a nightmare nowadays. The quality products are always super expensive, and refilling those products are always really expensive as well. Then, when you try and save a little bit of money, you get stuck with dull razors that can you can really only use once, and they irritate your skin. And that’s exactly why I switched to Harry’s Plus, which and I haven’t looked back since. Harry’s Plus has an advanced pivoting system to reach every corner of your face, refined blade tech for closer, smoother shaves, and a weighted metal handle, which is Harry’s heaviest handle ever for added control and comfort. But I think the best part about Harry’s Plus is how affordable it is. Harry’s owns their own worldclass blade factory in Germany, which means no outsourcing and no middleman. And because uh they control the entire process from steel to shelf. They keep costs low and pass the savings on to you, the customer. And if you don’t love your shave, Harry’s will make it right with you, no questions asked. Their risk-free trial means there’s zero downside to giving them a shot. And I actually brought my Harry’s Plus razor to show you guys that I actually do use and love this product. And I love the Harry’s Plus razor uh in particular because of the weighted metal handle. It just gives it that extra little sense of of premium quality. And then of course the German engineered blades that are in all of Harry’s products um give you a barberhop quality shave without breaking the bank. So for a limited time only, our listeners can get Harry’s Plus trial set for only $10 at harrys.com/hat. That set includes the allnew Harrys Plus razor, one refined fiveblade cartridge, a 2o foaming shave gel, and a travel cover to protect your blades on the go. Just head on over to harrys.com/hat to claim this offer and after your purchase, they’ll ask where you heard about them. Please support our show and tell them that we sent you. A big thank you to Harry’s for sponsoring today’s edition of Steelers Talk. So, the first uh uh problem that I want to talk about here uh when it comes to Aaron Rogers is his downfield accuracy and efficiency. Okay. And this has actually been something where from year to year, the Steelers have actually downgraded at the quarterback position. Uh Russell Wilson was one of the most proficient downfield quarterbacks in the entire league last season. His issue was he couldn’t uh throw underneath efficiently. He couldn’t uh you know mentally process a defense. And that’s not a problem with Rogers. But with Rogers this season, his downfield passing stats have been let’s say uh you know less than stellar. Okay? Like he’s not ranking in the top 20 in any of the key metrics in terms of accuracy that you look for on passes 10 plus yard airs down the field. He’s not even ranking in the top 32 in completion percentage uh in in this category. And they honestly don’t do it all that often. And you know what’s kind of weird is that uh Aaron Rogers actually leads the NFL and downfield touchdown percentage. Almost 20% of his downfield throws end up becoming touchdowns. Uh but you know, in terms of the efficiency there, it’s just not at the same level as this offense was with Russell Wilson throwing the ball 10 plus yards down the field in 2024. Uh, and then when you extend it out to 20 plus yards, it’s still not great, right? Not ranking, um, you know, in in the top 15 or above league average in any of these key metrics. And, you know, uh, this has actually been an issue since camp. I mean, this is something that we’ve been talking about since Latroe where Aaron Rogers, you know, he’d be able to, you know, pepper those kind of quick game kind of concepts and, you know, get the ball out fast, but uh he had some trouble get locating DK Metaf down the field and and and kind of connecting with his receivers, uh, you know, 10 and 20 plus yards down the field. And honestly, it was an issue for Aaron Rogers last year with the New York Jets. It was one of his biggest bugaboos last year is that he just wasn’t very efficient throwing the ball down the field. And you guys can take a look at his downfield passing stats last year in New York. And it’s very similar where he’s not completing a high number of his passes. He’s not throwing u you know a high number of his passes uh on target or catchable either. And you know the passer rating is as low as it gets among NFL starting quarterbacks. So, as Aaron Rogers maybe has aged and maybe after that Achilles injury and a and as you know he’s getting older and you know he’s he’s never had the best throwing mechanics. You know, he’s always had the arm talent to make up for some poor uh throwing mechanics. He’s never really thrown with great base or anything like that. Um I think that that might be catching up to him now that he’s getting a bit older and coming off an Achilles tear just two seasons ago. Uh, but the second problem that I think has really led to the downgrade in play that we’ve seen from Rogers over the last three weeks is I don’t think he’s been playing healthy. All right. Um, you know, I don’t think that he’s particularly played uh super healthy, especially on his throwing hand the last three games. And we have to remember here, guys, uh, back in week nine, he in the pregame before the game versus the Colts, he jammed his finger in warm-ups, uh, taking a snap from Zack Frasier. And I think that that has really uh affected his game ever since then. And this kind of occurred to me yesterday. I was kind of thinking, you know, Rogers hasn’t really played all that well the last three weeks. He’s kind of had a downgrade in play over these last three games. And you know, I kind of remembered, hey, remember when he jammed his finger on a throw on his throwing hand pregame versus the Colts. And I kind of look back and I was like, well, what did his numbers look like before the injury and what does his numbers look like after the injury? And the difference is staggering, man. just over the last three games, he’s gone from 14th in adjusted EPA per play to 33rd in the National Football League. Uh the success rate has largely stayed the same in terms of where he ranks in the National Football League, but his accuracy, his completion percentage over uh over expected, goes from eighth in the league, a top 10 quarterback in terms of accuracy to 31st. Okay, that certainly points to, you know, not having uh full control of the football. Uh then his yards per attempt efficiency goes from 15th to nearly 30th. And then his passer rating goes from top 10 in the league those first eight weeks to 27th in the league. So obviously something has happened these last three weeks that has led to Rogers you know going from you know a pretty league average quarterback and you know playing pretty darn well and a lot of people talking about Rogers having to come back for another season and you know people being excited about the way Rogers was playing to now people are talking about Mason Rudolph needing to start over him because he’s playing that poorly. Um, and now according to a report from Ian Rapaort, Rogers is pushing to play this week, uh, with a broken wrist on his non-throwing hand, but still it’s a broken wrist, right? And he might have to wear a brace that might affect, um, you know, the the way that he goes out about playing the position. So, right now, he’s dealing with a jam finger that has clearly affected the way that he has been able to throw the football on his throwing hand. And now he’s dealing with another injury uh, to his upper body that could also maybe affect the way he throws the football. So, I think my best advice that I could give to Aaron Rogers at this point to fix this particular issue with this game right now is to get back to 100% health. All right. My if I had the chance to talk with Aaron Rogers, I’d be like, man, I know you can maybe theoretically play with these injuries, but you’re not playing at a high level uh with the with with whatever you’re dealing with with your finger. All right? You got to get back to 100% so you can play at the level that you were playing at before that injury. Um, and the truth is when Aaron’s been healthy this year, he’s been pretty darn good. I mean, uh, you know, we we you guys saw the numbers there in the first eight weeks, he was ranking in the top 10 in passer rating and completion percentage over over expected. And, you know, he was playing very efficient football and, you know, there was a reason why. Uh, we were talking about Rogers potentially coming back for another season and us being happy about that idea. It’s because he was playing good football, but over the last three weeks, that just hasn’t been the case. And my worry is if he continues to play on that jammed finger and continues to play on that broken wrist, I just feel like it’s not going to get better. It might even get worse and uh until he gets back to 100%. I’m not sure if we’re going to see the Aaron Rogers we saw in the first half of the season. But some other ways that Arthur Smith, the offensive coordinator, can help out Aaron Rodgers in the weeks to come. I think you can get under center more often. I think this offense is much more proficient when we’re under center play action passing. you know, get Rogers rolling out to the right, all that different stuff. I I think that this offense just works better uh than, you know, the heavy shotgun stuff that we see from Rogers when this team goes pass. Also, have an awesome run game. That’s a big part of it as well. We certainly have the talent in the running back room to get the job done there. I would say use Roman Wilson and Calvin Austin more. Get them uh going on more than just like stop routes or go routes. You know, actually use their skill sets as route runners. um and and target the intermediate middle of the field more with Roman Wilson and Calvin Austin because those two guys can run good routes. It’s just I don’t think they’re utilized uh in this offense as much as they should be. Uh also I would bench John Smith and I would play DW and u and and Pat Fmouth at tight end for a large majority of the tight end snaps in this offense. And then obviously it helps when your defense is playing at a high level. I mean, even over this last threeame stretch where Rogers hasn’t played great football, the Steelers are two and one and they’re still getting victories because the defense has has taken their game to the next level. So listen man, when it comes to the big picture here and heading towards a a potential playoff birth for the Steelers, if you can get a healthy Aaron Rodgers back and he can get that kind of throwing hand back to where it was, uh, where it’s 100% good to go, he can grip the football that he want the way that he wants to and it’s not affecting his accuracy, I think this team as a whole can be very dangerous if you can combine the way that the Steelers defense is playing right now and the way Aaron Rogers and the Steelers offense was playing during that stretch of like the Dublin game all the way to Packer game. If you can combine those two versions of the Steelers, uh, you know, team here, I think that you could have a very dangerous team come playoff time and a team that can beat any team in the National Football League in a playoff setting. So hopefully Aaron Rogers can get healthy here soon. I think he does give this team the best possible chance to win playoff games this year and go on a run to potentially win a seventh Lombardi Trophy. But let me know what you guys think down there in the comments section. What’s the percent chance that Pittsburgh wins a playoff game this season? and put it on a scale of zero, meaning no chance. There’s no way they win a they win a playoff game this year to 100% meaning you can book it, take it to the bank, bet the house on it. The Steelers are winning a playoff game this year. That’ll be it for today’s first Steelers talk video of the day. Make sure you guys type those real ones down there in the comments section so we can give some love to you down there in the comment section. Making it to the end of our videos, guys, it helps the YouTube algorithm because YouTube is seeing you go to the end of the video and that obviously is an indication that you enjoy today’s content. And so I want to give some love to the people that made it to the end of today’s show. And then later today, Ponzi and I will be going live here on Steelers Talk starting at 6:00 p.m. Eastern time to talk about the latest surrounding the Pittsburgh Steelers. So make sure you click that subscribe button if you haven’t already and join us later for Tomlin Tuesday’s edition of Steelers Talk.

Steelers news: The Steelers offense has been in a slump and the one to blame behind the fall is QB Aaron Rodgers? Ever since Aaron Rodgers had his hand injury since Week 9, he has been struggling. Jack Sperry of Steelers Report by Chat Sports breaks down why Aaron Rodgers has 2 big problems and it may not be what you think.

Our listeners get the Harry’s Plus Trial Set for only $10 at https://www.Harrys.com/CHAT

Whenever Steelers breaking news hits, Jack is going to get a video out to you guys no matter what (even on his off days)! Hit that sub button for more Steelers rumors: https://www.youtube.com/SteelersTV?sub_confirmation=1

Share today’s video with a friend you think will enjoy our content to help us grow our family here at Steelers Talk!

Do you know ball? PROVE IT in the comments section!
– Do you believe in Aaron Rodgers as PIT’s QB1? Yes or No?
– What do you think is Aaron Rodgers’ biggest issue?
– Percent chance PIT wins a playoff game this year? Scale of 0-100

Get all the latest NFL news and NFL rumors this season on the Chat Sports YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/chatsportstv?sub_confirmation=1

2025 Aaron Rodgers advanced stats:
– Success Rate: 44.9% (28th)
– CPOE: 1.1% (17th)
– On-Target%: 72.9% (19th)
– Yards Per Attempt: 6.8 (26th)
– Big Time Throw%: 3.5% (23rd)
– Turnover Worthy Play%: 3.0% (17th)
– AVG Time To Throw: 2.59 (1st)
– AVG Depth of Target: 5.7 (36th)
– Pressure To Sack%: 21.6% (30th)

More 2025 NFL talk from Sperry can be found on social media! Hit him up on X: https://x.com/jack_sperry

The Real One’s know that liking today’s video is the easiest way to help out the channel!

QB Aaron Rodgers downfield stats:
– COMP%: 41.5% (33rd)
– Catchable%: 67.7% (32nd)
– On-Target%: 67.7% (27th)
– YPA: 10.2 (21st)
– Passer Rating: 80.3 (25th)

Notable Steelers 2025 Free Agency/Trade Additions:
– Aaron Rodgers (QB)
– DK Metcalf (WR)
– Jalen Ramsey (CB)
– Jonnu Smith (TE)
– Darius Slay (CB)
– Malik Harrison (ILB)
– Juan Thornhill (S)
– Daniel Ekuale (DT)

This is going to be a MASSIVE Pittsburgh Steelers season. Turn on those notifications so you never miss a thing!

Subscribe to @chatsports – your NFL HQ + the latest NBA news and college football rumors non-stop across social media:
– Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chatsports
– Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chatsports
– X: https://x.com/ChatSports

Here’s some more Steelers YouTube segments for you to check out if you’re looking for more insight on the Black & Gold:
– Steelers News: NEW Aaron Rodgers Injury Update, Ja’Marr Chase Suspended + Film Takeaways vs. Bengals – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEcyx5S150Q
– START MASON RUDOLPH? – Pittsburgh Steelers OVERREACTION Monday Ft. James Pierre & Jonnu Smith – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyEzc397UVg
– The Pittsburgh Steelers Just Got HUGE NEWS On Aaron Rodgers’ Wrist Injury + More From Week 11’s Win – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBBfvHeqi54

#Steelers #SteelersNews #SteelersRumors #CSHR2025 #harryspod #ad #CSB