In 2013, Tom Brady lost Wes Welker to free agency and Rob Gronkowski to injury, and he leaned on a thin group of receivers. Julian Edelman was the one who held it together, catching 105 passes. The former New England Patriots WR knows what it looks like when a receiver room does its job, and what it looks like when it doesn’t.
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Now, watching the Pittsburgh Steelers perform in the 2026 season, Julian Edelman took notice of a textbook mistake Aaron Rodgers’ offensive unit was making.
“Pittsburgh’s kind of real sluggish right now on offense,” Julian Edelman said on The Gronk & Jules Show. “I’m worried about Pittsburgh’s skill group. They were covered last week- like they got to get open. There are two jobs for the receiver. This is what we used to hear all the time. You have to get open, and you have to catch a ball.
“They’re not doing either of those right now. I don’t think it’s Aaron Rodgers at the whole thing. I really don’t. [Those hits] those are coverage sacks. No one’s open. Aaron’s not going to throw it to a spot where there’s a team meeting.”
Through the first three weeks of the 2026 NFL season, the Pittsburgh Steelers sit at a 2-1 record and are tied at the top of a competitive AFC North with the Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, and the Cincinnati Bengals.
However, DK Metcalf being the primary wide receiver, had a slow start to the season. Through the first two games, Metcalf was heavily targeted (19 times) but locked down just 8 receptions and 67 yards.
Second on the WR list, Michael Pittman Jr., who was brought in to act as a reliable intermediate safety valve, has put up 58 yards in Week 1 but has shared targets heavily in an offense that relies heavily on checking down to running back Jaylen Warren (10 receptions and 110 receiving yards) and tight end Pat Freiermuth (11 receptions and 108 receiving yards).
However, led by veteran head coach Mike McCarthy and quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the offense has experienced a stark tale of two halves. Across their opening matchups against the Atlanta Falcons (a 20-13 win) and the New England Patriots (a 3-20 loss), the Steelers managed only 23 total points.
If filtering strictly by offensive output, Aaron Rodgers and company produced just 16 points over eight quarters, making them temporarily one of the league’s lowest-scoring offenses. While Rodgers has received a bit of flak for the performance as the leader, his primary targets haven’t been at par with their performance.
However, after a sluggish first two weeks where the unit managed just 23 combined offensive points, they broke out in Week 3 with a high-scoring 30-27 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.
Aaron Rodgers delivered one of his best games yet in a Steelers uniform, where he completed 3 touchdown passes, including deep scoring strikes to Roman Wilson (38 yards) and Ben Skowronek (23 yards). He wrapped up the Week 3 game with 292 passing yards and a stellar 101.6 quarterback rating.
Meanwhile, WR1 DK Metcalf finally broke his early-season touchdown drought, adjusting to the rhythm of the offense to catch 3 passes for 31 yards and his first score of the season.
Next up, the Pittsburgh Steelers face the Cleveland Browns in a Week 4 game on October 1, where it will be interesting to see if the offense can build on the momentum from the Bengals win.