{"id":185380,"date":"2025-07-06T08:03:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-06T08:03:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/185380\/"},"modified":"2025-07-06T08:03:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-06T08:03:13","slug":"former-nfl-player-if-aaron-rodgers-takes-a-backseat-steelers-can-go-as-far-as-the-afc-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/185380\/","title":{"rendered":"Former NFL Player: If Aaron Rodgers Takes A ‘Backseat’ Steelers Can ‘Go As Far As The AFC Championship’"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s another year for the Pittsburgh Steelers and another veteran quarterback under center. Last year, it was Russell Wilson; this year, it is Aaron Rodgers. Despite coming off a down year with the New York Jets, there is some optimism that Rodgers could help the Steelers win a playoff game.<\/p>\n

On SPEAK earlier this week<\/a>, former NFL DT Gerald McCoy was asked how far he thinks Rodgers can lead the Steelers. He answered the question by posing a question.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow far back on the bus is Aaron Rodgers willing to sit?\u201d asked McCoy. \u201cYou\u2019re not the lead guy anymore. We have a formula here. The problem with the Pittsburgh Steelers is they\u2019ve gotten into the playoffs and they don\u2019t have a guy that can make the throws. All they need him to do is make those particular throws that they need a quarterback to make, that these guys haven\u2019t been able to make. So, if Aaron Rodgers is willing to take a backseat and just play his role, they can go as far as the AFC Championship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rodgers is a cerebral quarterback whose mind is still as sharp as a tack. Even with his physical capabilities declining, it is nowhere near equivalent to QB Ben Roethlisberger\u2019s physical decline in his last two seasons. Rodgers can still make almost any throw, something Roethlisberger couldn\u2019t do returning from elbow surgery.<\/p>\n

In addition, Rodgers was also returning from Achilles surgery last season and played better in the back half of the season than in the beginning. He likely was still not 100 percent early in the season, and his numbers show improvement down the stretch. In his first 10 games, Rodgers had an average yards per throw of 6.65 and threw 15 touchdowns and seven interceptions. In his last seven games, Rodgers had an average yards per attempt of 6.6 and threw 13 touchdowns and four interceptions.<\/p>\n

Although the numbers are similar and not great, they do show that he started to get more comfortable with his Achilles as the season went on, and he became a more effective quarterback because of it. However, the numbers still show that Rodgers can\u2019t be the lead guy anymore.<\/p>\n

He can make throws and help a team out when needed, but he isn\u2019t going to have an MVP season and carry a team to the playoffs. As McCoy said, Rodgers can\u2019t be the bus driver; he has to sit in the back as a passenger and be ready for when the Steelers need him to make big-time throws. Rodgers is still capable of making big-time throws on occasion. The real question is whether he is willing to sit in the back of the bus.<\/p>\n

Even if Aaron Rodgers is in better shape after another year removed from his Achilles injury, he is still declining physically. But, he should be the best quarterback the Steelers have had since Roethlisberger. That, combined with a defense that looks very strong on paper<\/a>, is the reason McCoy believes the Steelers can make a run in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause they have the defense, well, he gotta get T.J. [Watt] back in the building. But they have the defense, they have a formula that\u2019s been working,\u201d said McCoy. \u201cBut, what they\u2019ve run into is they haven\u2019t had a quarterback that can make those particular throws only when we need you to.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCoy, like others, blames Pittsburgh\u2019s playoff failures on poor quarterback play when they get to the dance. But that isn\u2019t really the case. While the Steelers haven\u2019t had the advantage at quarterback going into a playoff game since at least 2020, it\u2019s hard to blame their losses on the quarterback position, especially considering their playoff losing streak goes back to the 2016 AFC Championship Game. Since then, they\u2019ve lost to names like Blake Bortles and Baker Mayfield.<\/p>\n

The Steelers\u2019 defense has allowed at least 28 points a game since the 2016 AFC Championship Game. That isn\u2019t good enough to win a playoff game. But, McCoy is also right that the quarterback play hasn\u2019t been good enough either. Since the 2021 playoffs (Roethlisberger\u2019s last season), Pittsburgh\u2019s offense has failed to score more than 17 points in a playoff game. That has to improve, and the hope is that Rodgers can be the catalyst for that improvement.<\/p>\n

Winning in the playoffs requires a full team effort. It is how the Steelers made the Super Bowl three times from 2005 to 2010. If Aaron Rodgers plays well and makes big throws, but the defense continues its trend of not showing up, Pittsburgh won\u2019t make the AFC Championship. If Rodgers stinks but the defense doesn\u2019t play well, the same result. However, if the two come together, then Pittsburgh can finally win a playoff game and hopefully return to the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s another year for the Pittsburgh Steelers and another veteran quarterback under center. Last year, it was Russell…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":185381,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1586,7,34683,6,23846],"class_list":{"0":"post-185380","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-aaron-rodgers","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-gerald-mccoy","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-speak"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114805250842699489","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=185380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/185381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=185380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=185380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=185380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}