A season-opening win in your final NFL season would leave a veteran QB smiling, but Aaron Rodgers wasn’t in a celebratory mood after the Pittsburgh Steelers won 20–13 over the Atlanta Falcons at Acrisure Stadium. For a 22-year vet like Aaron Rodgers, witnessing the officials not call blatant foul play on his wideouts turned the post-game presser into a rant.

“We had a lot of chances. I mean, Roman gets interfered with, that’s going to be a touchdown. DK gets interfered with, they don’t call it,” Rodgers said in an X post about the post-game press conference. “DK gets interfered with in the end zone, almost makes a heroic catch, they don’t call it.”

Referee Brad Rogers’ officiating crew hit Atlanta with 96 penalty yards on the day. Rodgers even focused on multiple pass-interference penalties.

“We had some opportunities; Oh, first third down of the game. Yeah, DK in the slot, beats him, getting held, no call. Um, so it was interesting; there were a lot of flags, but some of those where we had a chance weren’t flags, uh, at times,” Rodgers continued, according to 93.7 The Fan’s Andrew Fillipponi on X. 

In his first game reunited with Mike McCarthy as the new Steelers head coach, Rodgers completed 24 of 40 passes for 221 yards and a TD pass to TE Pat Freiermuth in the back of the end zone to give Pittsburgh the lead in the 2nd quarter.

Despite his performance, Aaron Rodgers felt the referees missed critical calls all game, and he made his thoughts known as he took the podium wearing his Pleasant Valley (Rodgers’ high school) football shirt. 

Aaron Rodgers pointed out 4 different calls from the game that weren’t given. This included a 3rd-down holding on the Steelers’ WR DK Metcalf in the slot, a shoulder tackle down the sideline by the Falcons cornerback A.J. Terrell on another 3rd-down, another tight grab on Metcalf in the end zone, and lastly, a downfield interference by the third-year Steelers receiver Roman Wilson.

The four-time NFL MVP was disappointed about the calls, rather their lack thereof, especially as the officials were not afraid to penalize Pittsburgh’s offense. 

Offensive tackle Dylan Cook received a personal foul for a facemask penalty that stopped one drive and backed the Steelers to their 8-yard line. While DK Metcalf was called for two offensive pass interferences, one of which took away a 19-yard completion from the Aaron Rodgers that forced the Steelers into a 3rd-and-15 with 1:49 remaining before halftime.

Rodgers using his press conference to take responsibility for some of the criticism that his new receivers suffered at the hands of the officials perhaps stems from the criticism he has received over the years, but especially in recent weeks for giving out blunt criticism in media to his pass catchers. 

Earlier in the lead-up to the 2026 NFL season, Rodgers criticized Roman Wilson in front of reporters, calling him out for making “repeat” mistakes in practice. In the post-game presser, he shifted the spotlight on uncalled defensive penalties that took away potential scoring plays off the board. This deflected attention away from the drops and missed timing throws in the first game of the season. 

DK Metcalf “needs to find a way”: Pittsburgh Steelers radio host

Veteran wideout DK Metcalf came under the spotlight too after a poor showing. He managed only 4 catches on 10 targets and racked up only 40 receiving yards to start the season.

Radio host Andrew Fillipponi agreed with Rodgers on some missed calls on X (3 of them were on Metcalf).

“DK still needs to find a way to make some plays,” he said.

Metcalf’s Week 1 performances of late have not been the best. He last scored a passing touchdown in a Week 1 game in 2023 against the Los Angeles Rams. Now in his second season for the Steelers, he’ll want to do better soon.

Pittsburgh suffered two costly drops and 16 incompletions, with several off-target throws underscoring Aaron Rodgers’ early-season timing miscues with his receiving corps.

The drops meant that they had to punt on the subsequent 4th downs in what were otherwise manageable 3rd down situations. The worst of them came when Metcalf dropped a third-and-3 pass over the middle from Rodgers in the second half.

Along with missed opportunities in tight coverage, Pittsburgh’s offense stalled repeatedly, converting just 3 of their 13 third downs and going 0-for-2 on fourth-down attempts throughout the game. Their RBs, Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle, combined for just 18 carries and 61 yards. Overall, the Steelers displayed a very start-stop offense. 

Even HC Mike McCarthy wasn’t impressed by the heavy passing volume and stated that they “won’t live in that world.”