When the Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Houston Texans in the Wild Card round on January 12, it will mark Aaron Rodgers’ first playoff appearance since 2022. That’s the longest postseason gap of the Steelers’ quarterback’s career. When asked about returning to the postseason after a four-year gap, Rodgers had a clear message for those who had written the Steelers off. 

“I mean, that was 2022 January, I believe, when we played in the Divisional round,” Aaron Rodgers said in a presser on January 8. “Yeah, it feels good to be back. That’s why you play. You want to be playing meaningful football late in the season. And we put ourselves in that position. I think some of it’s embracing the way the season has gone. At 6-6, there are a lot of people thinking we were going to be kind of stumbling to the finish, and then who knows what was going to happen.”

“A lot of you, probably in this group, either publicly or privately, were talking about Mike T getting axed. So, it feels good to shut all those comments down. Clean the slate now. Anybody can make a run. It’s the hottest team. We’ve won four out of five. We’re playing a lot better football than we were earlier in the season. I like our chances.”

The Steelers wrapped up their regular season dramatically by beating the Baltimore Ravens 26-24 after Baltimore’s kicker Tyler Loop missed a game-winning field goal. That win handed Pittsburgh the AFC North title and punched their ticket to the playoffs. But head coach Mike Tomlin hasn’t guided the Steelers past the first round of the playoffs since 2016. So, when the Steelers fell to 6-6 earlier this season, right after an ugly 26-7 loss to the Buffalo Bills, even Pittsburgh’s home crowd started calling for Tomlin to be fired. 

However, Rodgers is focused on the present, emphasizing that the slate is clean now as they are in the playoffs. That said, there’s a reality check waiting in the numbers for Aaron Rodgers.

The Steelers will enter the playoffs as the only AFC team without a top-10 offense or a top-10 defense. Recent NFL history hasn’t been kind to teams in that position. In fact, the only team in this century to win the Super Bowl without a top-10 offense or defense was the 2007 New York Giants, who had defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.

Still, Aaron Rodgers does not think that the Steelers are swimming against the current. He pointed to one simple fact: Pittsburgh has won four of its last five games. The Steelers then finished the regular season with a 10-7 record. But Rodgers might have overlooked his next opponent. 

Currently, the Texans might be the hottest team in the NFL. The Steelers will have to face the Texans, who are riding on a nine-game winning streak. Houston started the season 0-3 and was sitting at a 3-5 record heading into the second week of November. But since then, Houston has won nine straight games to earn the top AFC wild-card seed.

What’s even more impressive is that the Texans finished the regular season ranked first in the NFL in total defense, allowing just 277.2 yards per game. That’s bad news for the Steelers’ offense, which already doesn’t rank in the top 10. Therefore, it could be a very tough matchup for Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers. And if Pittsburgh does lose, questions about Mike Tomlin and Rodgers’ fates for next season could reemerge. 

For now, though, Tomlin and Rodgers have at least given the Steelers a real shot at their first playoff win since 2017. And Rodgers might be chasing more than just a win, as he might be eyeing another record by surpassing the Kansas City Chiefs’ QB Patrick Mahomes. 

Will Aaron Rodgers move past Patrick Mahomes to chase an NFL record in the playoffs?

NFL legend Tom Brady still owns the gold standard with 88 playoff touchdown passes – the most in NFL history. No one is touching that record set by Brady anytime soon, but the race for second place is getting interesting. Right now, Patrick Mahomes sits in second place with 46 playoff touchdown passes. But Aaron Rodgers isn’t far behind. He has 45 playoff TD passes, tied with NFL legend Joe Montana for third all-time.

But what makes Aaron Rodgers’ total even more impressive is that he piled up those touchdowns with just the Green Bay Packers across 11 different playoff runs. Now, if Rodgers throws one touchdown against the Texans, he will tie with Mahomes. But if Rodgers throws two, he will jump ahead of Mahomes. And if the Steelers win, the door opens for Rodgers to build a bigger lead for the most playoff TD passes.

Of course, there’s also a bigger picture to consider here, as Rodgers is 42 while Mahomes is only 30. By the time both of their careers are over, most people expect Mahomes to soar past Rodgers on this list. But here’s the twist: Mahomes isn’t in the playoffs this year as he’s recovering from season-ending knee surgery. And Rodgers is still playing in the postseason. So, at least for now, the Steelers QB has a real shot to claim the No. 2 spot on the all-time playoff touchdown list – even if it might not last long.

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