{"id":962231,"date":"2026-08-02T13:06:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T13:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/962231\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T13:06:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T13:06:21","slug":"aaron-rodgers-dk-metcalf-connection-needs-to-be-in-same-neighborhood-as-joe-burrow-jamarr-chase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/962231\/","title":{"rendered":"Aaron Rodgers-DK Metcalf Connection Needs To Be In ‘Same Neighborhood’ As Joe Burrow-Ja’Marr Chase"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aaron Rodgers and DK Metcalf were both big Pittsburgh Steelers acquisitions <\/a>last offseason. While they had their moments in 2025, it felt like their connection could\u2019ve been better. The Steelers\u2019 offense sputtered at times, and Rodgers-to-Metcalf wasn\u2019t as impactful as the team had hoped.<\/p>\n

Kyle Brandt believes that needs to change in 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Rodgers and DK need to be spectacular this year,\u201d Brandt said recently on ESPN\u2019s NFL Live: Back Together Weekend.<\/a> \u201cNot can be. Need to be. Not in the same block maybe as [Joe] Burrow and [Ja\u2019Marr] Chase, but in the same neighborhood\u2026I think this needs to be a prolific season for DK Metcalf.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Steelers seen plenty of Burrow and Chase, with the two of them playing for the Cincinnati Bengals. They\u2019re also one of the NFL\u2019s best duos. Burrow and Chase\u2019s connection actually goes back to college, and they were a big reason why LSU won the 2019 national championship.<\/p>\n

Rodgers and Metcalf getting close to what Burrow and Chase can do would be great for the Steelers. Chase has never had less than 1,000 receiving yards in a season since entering the league in 2021, even with Burrow battling injuries.<\/p>\n

Burrow played every game in 2024, and that was arguably his and Chase\u2019s best season. The Bengals quarterback threw for 4,918 yards, 43 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. Meanwhile, Chase had 127 catches for 1,708, yards and 17 touchdowns.<\/p>\n

Brandt isn\u2019t expecting Rodgers and Metcalf to reach those heights. Still, even them getting close to that is asking a lot. Rodgers threw for 3,322 yards, 24 touchdowns, and seven interceptions in 16 games last season, while Metcalf had 59 catches for 850 yards and six touchdowns in 15 games.<\/p>\n

Their connection flashed last year, but it was too inconsistent. For what it\u2019s worth, both of them have said that<\/a> they\u2019re closer now. Perhaps that means they\u2019ll have more on-field chemistry this season.<\/p>\n

Even if Rodgers and Metcalf don\u2019t get into the same neighborhood as Burrow and Chase, the Steelers need them to be better this season. They\u2019re both huge parts of Pittsburgh\u2019s offense. If they struggle to connect, the Steelers could struggle offensively again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aaron Rodgers and DK Metcalf were both big Pittsburgh Steelers acquisitions last offseason. While they had their moments…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":962232,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[1586,2870,7,8633,1577,5966,6,9521,520,57,2360,426],"class_list":["post-962231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-aaron-rodgers","tag-dk-metcalf","tag-football","tag-jamarr-chase","tag-joe-burrow","tag-kyle-brandt","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-live","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-pittsburghsteelers","tag-steelers"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117026067799330392","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/962231","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=962231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/962231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/962232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=962231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=962231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=962231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}