As expected, heading into the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Week 7 Thursday night matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals, Aaron Rodgers has moved into 5th-place on the NFL’s all-time career passing yards list. In doing so, Rodgers passed former Steelers quarterback and future Hall of Famer Ben Roethlisberger on the list, who now sits at sixth all-time with 64,088 yards.
Coming into the game, Rodgers only needed 116 yards to pass Big Ben. Despite a fast start, it took nearly the entire first half for Rodgers to get past the threshold. He officially passed Roethlisberger on a short dump-off over the middle to Jaylen Warren to pick up a third and four in the closing moments of the first half.
In the effort to close the gap, Rodgers channeled his inner-Roethlisberger on two separate occasions, extending the play in the backfield to find Jonnu Smith on two long scramble drills. The first went for a touchdown, the second picked up a first down. The largest chunk came from his 39-yard connection to DK Metcalf on an out-and-up on his third pass of the game.
Passing Ben Roethlisberger marks another chapter in Aaron Rodgers’ legendary career
Having passed Roethlisberger, Rodgers is likely as high as he will get on the career passing yards lists as far as placement goes. Fourth-place on the yards list belongs to Rodgers’ predecessor in Green Bay, Brett Favre, who threw for 71,838 yards. Short of playing two more full seasons to pass Favre, all Rodgers can do is widen the gap between himself and Roethlisberger on the list.
As for touchdowns, Rodgers is fourth all-time, having passed Favre earlier this season. With 10 touchdown passes on the season and 513 in his career, Rodgers needs another 27 to pass Peyton Manning for third on the career touchdowns list. Currently, Rodgers is on pace to throw for 34 touchdown passes this season, which would put him three short of Manning.
Outside of the possibility of passing Manning on the touchdowns list, Rodgers' legacy is all but finalized statistically. If not for his Achilles injury in 2023, Rodgers could have had the chance to put himself behind Tom Brady and Drew Brees in every category, but then again, he may not have had the chance to come to Pittsburgh then.
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Regardless, if the statistical aspect of Rodgers’ Hall of Fame resume is all but finalized, then that just leaves the main goal of this whole 2025 experiment in Pittsburgh. Steelers fans would certainly be happy enough with just a playoff win after starving for one over the past eight years. But plenty are still making room for the hope of a Super Bowl run that would let Rodgers ride off into the sunset.
There’s still plenty more football left for that situation to play itself out. Either way, Rodgers is destined for a spot in Canton in 2031 if he does indeed retire after one season in Pittsburgh.