It looked bleak at times for the Pittsburgh Steelers in their 2025 season opener, but they managed to do just enough to squeak out a 34-32 victory over the New York Jets. The defense disappointed fans with a poor overall showing against former starting quarterback Justin Fields, but new starter Aaron Rodgers luckily bailed them out with a vintage performance.
Rodgers became the first QB to throw four touchdowns in a game for the Steelers since Ben Roethlisberger in 2020, and the offense's 34 points would have been the third-highest scoring total last season. You could make a strong argument that it was the best passing performance Steelers fans have seen in a long time, especially with the amount of pressure he was under in this game.
There is no doubt that Rodgers was the biggest reason for the comeback victory, and fans are hoping that it will be just the beginning of what could be a big season for the former MVP.
Aaron Rodgers dominates his old team in Pittsburgh Steelers narrow victory over Jets
If his postgame interview was any indication, this performance had to feel vindicating for Rodgers after his tumultuous stint with the Jets over the past two seasons. Between the torn Achilles tendon in 2023 and the 5-12 disaster in 2024, starting the season off with a win over his old employer couldn't have been a better start to his tenure with Pittsburgh.
He looked more mobile than at any point last season, no doubt due to more time removed from the Achilles injury. He may not be able to avoid sacks and create outside of the pocket the way he used to, but running Arthur Smith's offense, filled with play-action boots and wide zone hand-offs, didn't seem to be a problem.
He made good use of all of his primary targets as well, with seven different players catching at least two passes. There weren't a ton of deep passes or overly difficult throws, but he consistently got the offense out of bad spots without the help of a productive run game.
If the Steelers get this level of play out of the aging Rodgers for most of the season, they will have a real shot at ending their near-decade drought of playoff wins. I am far from ready to predict that happening, but this was as good a debut as any fan could have hoped for.