The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 33-31 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals exposed the cracks in Steel City. The offense looked electric on one drive and confused the next. Aaron Rodgers, despite throwing four touchdowns, looked more like a man losing patience than a man leading a comeback. And that frustration might now be Mike Tomlin’s biggest headache.

On Pro Football Talk, Mike Florio and Michael Holley broke down Rodgers’ demeanor on TNF. “Rodgers just seemed pissed off all the time last night,” Florio said. “He seemed pissed off the whole game. Pissed off. You could see him. What the hell are you doing?”

The Steelers have the talent. They just don’t look unified. For Tomlin, that’s a real problem. It was Exhibit A in a growing communication gap between player and staff. Rodgers is only six games into his Steelers tenure, but he’s already testing the chemistry that’s supposed to bind a contender together.

Florio noted that at one point, Rodgers was like, “What the hell are you doing?” What started as a routine drive in the first quarter turned into an accidental comedy of errors.

Rodgers ran the play by handing the ball to Jaylen Warren for what should’ve been a simple run. Instead, Warren flipped it back, expecting a flea flicker that Rodgers claims never existed.

The tension didn’t end there. Midway through the game, even minor miscues triggered visible irritation. Michael Holley added, “He was agitated…Maybe he felt like the offense wasn’t precise enough.”

What’s wild is how unintentionally funny Rodgers’ frustration looked in real time. Every reaction was a mix of disbelief and diva energy. As Florio joked about how A-Rod reacted after getting tackled, “It’s like what the hell is this guy doing? He’s tackling the 41-year-old quarterback.”

And Holley followed with the line that said it all: “He should have been mad at that. He said, do you understand? Hey, I’m older than [Joe] Flacco. Don’t tackle me after a big play.”

Thursday night marked Aaron’s first-ever loss to Joe Flacco. And that probably bruised his ego almost as much as the hit did. But then came the postgame reaction and confusion.

Aaron Rodgers snaps after miscommunications

By night’s end, the frustration spilled straight into public view. The failed flea flicker was only the beginning. After the game, Rodgers denied that the play was planned.

“It wasn’t supposed to be a flea flicker. We weren’t on the same page,” Rodgers said. But Tomlin told reporters, “It was.” That single contradiction summed up everything wrong with Pittsburgh’s operation: two leaders seeing the same play entirely differently.

Rodgers had already snapped once at Warren. Then came the fourth quarter. Offensive lineman Broderick Jones accidentally tackled him during a celebration after a 68-yard touchdown to Pat Freiermuth.

Rodgers shoved the 300-pound lineman off him and stormed to the sideline. It looked bad because it was bad, the kind that leaves a locker room uneasy. You don’t body-slam your 41-year-old quarterback when adrenaline kicks in.

The loss sealed by a last-second Bengals field goal only amplified the tension. Rodgers finished with 249 yards, two interceptions, and a 67.6 per cent completion rate, but it felt hollow. Miscommunication has already crept into Tomlin’s offense, and this game exposed it all.