Pittsburgh Steelers fans’ worst expectations of the 2025 season have drawn a bit too close to reality. The team is 5-4, as fine an indicator as any that once again Mike Tomlin’s collective is barrelling toward another mediocre finish.
A playoff bid isn’t out of the question just yet, but falling backwards into the playoffs for another quick and brutal exit in the first round still isn’t acceptable to the fanbase.
The more befuddling aspect of this all-too-familiar path is Aaron Rodgers’ role in it all. Through the early weeks of the season, he seemed to be the least of the team’s problems. If everyone else could get their act together, then Rodgers might be able to conjure up some magic this season.
But after the Steelers’ Sunday night loss to the Chargers off an underwhelming performance against the Colts, Rodgers’ name has been written in pencil on the long list of issues with the Steelers heading into the critical final stretch of the regular season.
The narrative flipped quickly on Rodgers. After the win over Indianapolis, the internet filled up with talk of Rodgers potentially returning for a second season in Pittsburgh. After Sunday night, though, that evaporated into talk of how he’s too old, and he doesn’t want to get hit anymore.
If any of that is truly the case, then either Father Time has finally caught up to the nearly 42-year-old quarterback, or the lingering mediocrity in Pittsburgh over nearly the past decade has proven too much to overcome for the eventual Hall of Famer. Regardless of the reasoning, if Rodgers continues to slump and the Steelers fail to exceed the mediocre outcomes that have plagued past seasons, he'll continue to draw the negativity.
But there are still seven games left on the schedule. Rodgers can flip that narrative right back this week against Cincinnati.
After a week of criticisms, Pittsburgh Steelers' QB Aaron Rodgers can remind everyone who he really is against Bengals
Last time out against the Bengals, the Steelers got embarrassed. But it was the defense that bore the brunt of the fan base's complaints after the all-too-common Thursday night defeat. Rodgers, on the other hand, turned in one of his better performances as a Steeler with 250 yards and four scores.
He threw two picks in the game, which the defense allowed 115 yards and 10 points off of. He wasn’t perfect and played his part in the loss, even if one of those turnovers wasn’t all his fault. Still, he led a game-winning 'drive' to give the Steelers a late lead that unfortunately resulted in the Bengals having enough time to undo it.
Still, following that loss, just as well as the defeats by way of the Seahawks and Packers, Rodgers wasn't categorized as an issue, at least not on a large scale. That type of negative chatter only came after one of the worst performances of his entire career.
READ MORE: Quarterbacks who could push Steelers into massive draft gamble
That said, a clean, productive outing from Rodgers against Cincinnati can turn the conversation around in an instant. And the Bengals provide the perfect opportunity for Rodgers to do just that.
The Bengals give up 33 points per game, and their defense ranks 30th against the pass and dead last against the run. They’re also missing two key pieces to their defensive unit. So it should go without saying that the expectation is for Rodgers and his offense to play well against their AFC North rivals once again.
To Rodgers’ credit, he acknowledged that he didn’t play well against Los Angeles, and he was right to mention that bad days happen in the NFL. But Steelers fans don’t want to see the same from Rodgers as they often do with Tomlin. Acknowledgement without adjustment has been the name of the game in Pittsburgh too long.
Still, Rodgers has played above an acceptable level for most of the season, unlike the other items on the Steelers' aforementioned list of issues. Rodgers is likely just one or two strong performances away from readjusting the conversation back toward the actual issues this team faces every week, but it starts with getting back on track against Cincinnati.