When the Pittsburgh Steelers take the field for their Monday night matchup with the Houston Texans, it will be the 22nd career playoff start for quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Only a handful of QBs have started more games in the postseason, which is no surprise with how dominant Rodgers was during his prime with the Green Bay Packers.
One of the QBs just ahead of him with 23 career playoff starts is Steelers legend Ben Roethlisberger. Roethlisberger is also third all-time in passing yards in the playoffs with 5,972, something that I feel goes overlooked at times. Only Peyton Manning (7,339) and Tom Brady (13,400) are ahead of him at the moment.
Brady's record might never be touched at this rate, and even Manning's mark could stay in second place for a while, with Patrick Mahomes the only active player in his stratosphere aside from Rodgers.
Big Ben's mark is about to move down to fourth, however, with Rodgers just 79 yards away from passing him up.
Aaron Rodgers will almost certainly pass Pittsburgh Steelers' legend Ben Roethlisberger in playoff passing yard against Texans
Barring an injury or an all-time stinker of a performance, Rodgers should move past Roethlisberger and into third place on the postseason passing yards list. Rodgers is sitting on 5,894 yards currently, so even a mediocre first half should be enough to get the 79 yards required to get it done.
Seeing Rodgers pass Big Ben while wearing a Steelers uniform will be bittsersweet for fans, but it would be far worse if he doesn't do it.
Rodgers was brought in because Pittsburgh had failed to find a serious threat at QB since Roethlisberger retired. Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky, Justin Fields, and Russell Wilson all proved they weren't the answer, and now the four-time MVP will get his chance to show he can lead them to their first playoff victory in nearly a decade.
Even Ben Roethlisberger is probably happy to see his spot on the list change, as long as Rodgers actually comes away with the victory.
That will be easier said than done, as the Texans are road favorites for good reason. They are on a nine-game winning streak and have one of the NFL's most fearsome defenses. Rodgers will have to play very well if the Steelers want to have a chance, so here's hoping it doesn't take him long Monday night to pass up Big Ben.