The Pittsburgh Steelers failed to defend their home turf on Sunday Night Football this week, falling 35-25 to the visiting Green Bay Packers. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers had an opportunity to join an exclusive club of QBs to beat all 32 NFL teams, but his team didn't show up when it mattered most.
Rodgers didn't play his best game by any means, but his defense, in particular, was his biggest enemy in this game. The Packers offense could do no wrong in the second half, with 28 points on five consecutive scoring drives before running out the clock. Packers QB Jordan Love completed 20 straight passes at one point as well, just five away from the NFL record.
In a game that was supposed to be about Rodgers showing that he is still the legend who spent 18 years in Green Bay, it was instead about his successor channeling his excellence to defeat his mentor.
Jordan Love dominated the Pittsburgh Steelers, Aaron Rodgers with a Rodgers-esque performance
Love started the game decently strong, with 146 yards and a touchdown in the first half. A couple of missed field goals made the Packers offense look worse than it really was, giving the Steelers a 16-7 lead going into halftime. The Steelers and Rodgers had an opportunity to push the lead even higher to start the second half, but they quickly went three and out.
From there, it was Love and the Packers. Green Bay rattled off three consecutive touchdown drives of 90, 78, and 45 yards to take a commanding 29-19 lead with just over 10 minutes left to play. Love was sensational on those three drives, completing all 13 of his pass attempts for 171 yards and two touchdowns.
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Rodgers, meanwhile, could only lead his offense to a single field goal in that same timeframe. He faced more pressure than he did in the first half, but he often ran into that pressure despite decent blocking from his young offensive line. The play calling also didn't do him any favors, with the Steelers completely abandoning the run even when the game was still far from out of hand.
Their final stat lines show just how overmatched the Steelers' defense was compared to the Packers. Love finished 29 of 37 for 360 yards and three touchdowns, while Rodgers finished 24 of 36 for 219 yards and two touchdowns. Love had wide-open targets for much of the game, and his receivers even dropped a few passes that would have made his box score look even more remarkable.
It's as clear as ever that Rodgers can no longer carry a team on his back the way he did for many years in Green Bay, but he wasn't supposed to be asked to. The Steelers have the highest-paid defense in the NFL, and yet they are a bottom-five unit in every meaningful metric. Love, meanwhile, has a strong defense backing him up while playing the best ball of his career.