After losing 20-3 to the New England Patriots in Week 2, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers walked up to the post-game podium and stressed that there’s a need to up the urgency. While he insisted there was no need to “point fingers,” just seconds later, he took an indirect shot at head coach Mike McCarthy.
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“In a game like today where there wasn’t a lot of flow to it, we need to be better, and it starts with me- making sure Mike knows what’s working, what’s not working, our coaches know, and so we can call stuff that we feel like has a better chance,” Rodgers told reporters.
Reacting to the soundbite of Rodgers from the press conference, NFL analyst John Frascella raised concerns on X about Rodgers’ mindset.
“I think Aaron Rodgers might be going through some sort of crisis… spilled all the beans on that podcast a couple weeks ago… just blaming everyone else for everything, now… this is probably – deep down – about the reality of confronting the end of his LONG pro football career. It’s a weird thing to face,” Frascella wrote on X.
That podcast reference points directly to Rodgers’ pre-season appearance on Cameron Heyward’s Not Just Football show. While Aaron Rodgers is often unfiltered in his media appearances, that time, some might say he went too unfiltered during the multi-part interview.
He discussed his personal life issues, including his broken engagement with actress Shailene Woodley, past media feuds, and the internal weight of entering his final NFL season.
Pittsburgh sports radio host Andrew Fillipponi called the post-game comment “pretty passive-aggressive,” pointing out that Rodgers had never publicly called out coaching decisions during his year under previous Steelers coach Mike Tomlin.
Former MLB executive David Samson echoed that frustration, summing up the QB’s recent habit as “The Aaron experience: Plenty of excuses and no performance.”
Other national analysts were just as critical. Darren Rovell compared Rodgers’ comments to dragging coaches from the emergency back door, while FOX Sports reporter Ralph Vacchiano quipped that it is never Rodgers’ fault.
Through 2 full weeks of regular-season action, Pittsburgh’s offense has engineered exactly 1 touchdown drive. And even in that possession, they only managed to drive for 31 yards.
That startling drought boiled over in Foxborough, where 42-year-old Rodgers looked completely stuck in the mud, tossing an interception, losing a strip-sack fumble, and limping to just 187 passing yards. That outing dragged his season passer rating down to a sluggish 72.1, nearly 20 points beneath the lowest full-season mark of his 22-year career.
Putting up a measly 3 points tied the lowest-scoring performance of Rodgers’ pro career as a starting QB (when he hasn’t left with an injury), matching his 38-3 opening-day loss against the New Orleans Saints back in 2021.
The tension between QB and HC feels a bit familiar. In their 13 seasons together at the Green Bay Packers, the Aaron Rodgers – Mike McCarthy duo won Super Bowl XLV, but their tenure ended with disputes between them about play-calling autonomy and old concepts. Those same communication fractures are surfacing again just 2 weeks into their first season reunion in Pittsburgh.
“With two games under their belts, it’s becoming clear that the Pittsburgh Steelers are broken on offense,” CBS Sports’ Tyler Sullivan stated in a recent report. “So far, the Steelers have 499 total yards through two games, averaging out to 249.5 yards per game. That is the fewest total yards through two games in any season in Aaron Rodgers’ career, as well as Mike McCarthy’s coaching career.”
Against New England, they converted only two of 12 third-down tries while averaging 3.8 yards per play. But while his QB strayed away from ownership, Mike McCarthy took full accountability.
“Clearly not good enough. That starts with me,” McCarthy confessed in front of the reporters.
He later acknowledged the group’s sloppy execution, stating, “If it’s not clean, you cut the volume down, and we’re not clean on offense. So, the volume is getting cut down. That’s the first starting point, and that’s my fault.”