When an NFL offense converts just two of 12 third downs and fails to cross into the end zone all afternoon, the cracks are impossible to hide. Following the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 20-3 beatdown in Foxborough, QB Aaron Rodgers admitted at a presser that averaging just 8 points per game over the first 2 weeks is simply “not winning football.” Right after that, an anonymous NFL executive wrote off the veteran passer, stating, “What did you expect? He’s 42, can’t do it anymore. Never thought that would work, anyway.”
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Rodgers finished the game completing 23 of 39 passes for 187 yards, 0 touchdowns, and 1 interception while getting sacked 4 times. After the game, head coach Mike McCarthy openly stated Pittsburgh must provide better platforms to throw from, insisting that he refuses to dink and dunk all day with this offense. Both os those assessments opened the floodgates, with Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe taking shots at Pittsburgh on the Nightcap podcast for trusting an aging QB to save the franchise.
“Let me ask you a question, Ocho, and Joe, you can chime in after this. In order to push the ball down the field, what must the quarterback be willing to do? Stand there, yeah, in the pocket, cuz ain’t no three steps pushing the ball down the field. Now I need an offensive lineman to give me time. It’s a bad situation. It’s the perfect storm: his offensive line isn’t good, and he’s old. As we start to age, we need things more perfect in order for us to succeed, whereas before, you’d have never heard Mike McCarthy say this…
“He don’t push the ball down the field, them licks hurt. Ocho, you know what it’s like to take licks in year 10. Now imagine taking licks in year 20, 22, at 42! Hell, I retired at 35; that’s another seven years! Them legs hurt. So, me personally, I don’t know what they thought they were going to get. In his prime, in his absolute apex, he went to one Super Bowl. That was in 2011, we’re 15 years removed! They said, ‘Yeah, that’s the guy that can get us to the [Super Bowl].’ Really Ocho? Really, Joe?” Shannon Sharpe said on the Nightcap.
Sharpe highlighted Rodgers’ lone Super Bowl victory from 15 years ago to question Pittsburgh’s strategy, pointing out that even elite passers like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning struggled once their physical mobility dropped off late in their careers.
The New England Patriots blitzed Aaron Rodgers 21 times, pressured him on 17 dropbacks, and held the entire offense to an ugly 3.5 yards per play and a 2-of-12 success rate on third downs. As was evident on the field in Foxborough, age was clearly catching up to the four-time NFL MVP.
The Nightcap trio also noted that while Rodgers has been shaky through the first two weeks, his pass-catchers haven’t provided much help either, with veteran wideout DK Metcalf struggling to find his rhythm in the offense.
Pittsburgh now sits at 1-1, facing pressure to fix their early-season issues in a tight AFC North. Mike McCarthy agreed after the Patriots game that the Steelers ought to give Aaron Rodgers “better platforms to throw off of,” but it still doesn’t overshadow the fact that Aaron Rodgers won’t be getting any younger as the 2026 NFL season goes on.