Aaron Rodgers’ announcement in May that he plans to retire after the 2026 NFL season gives Sunday night’s game at Paycor Stadium a little extra weight for the Bengals. If this is the final regular-season meeting between Cincinnati and the future Pro Football Hall of Famer, it comes on NBC’s Sunday Night Football with both teams sitting at 6-2 and tied for first in the AFC North.
The Bengals already saw Rodgers once this season, falling to Pittsburgh at Acrisure Stadium in Week 3 on Sept. 27. Rodgers threw for 292 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception in that game.
This matchup also puts Rodgers and Joe Flacco in the same spotlight as the NFL’s oldest active quarterbacks. Rodgers turned 42 last December, while Flacco turned 41 in January. Bengals practice-squad quarterback Josh Johnson is the league’s third-oldest active quarterback.
The 2025 season has already produced one Bengals-Steelers showdown that swung Cincinnati’s way. In Week 7 at Paycor Stadium, Flacco and the Bengals won 33-31 in a game Steelers defensive tackle Cam Heyward called the “ Icy Hot Bowl.” Pittsburgh got even four weeks later, although Rodgers left that rematch after suffering a left wrist injury in the second quarter.
Rodgers has faced the Bengals seven times in his career and is 4-3 against them. His first four games in the series came during his Green Bay days, and the most recent stretch has been split between last season’s two meetings and the Steelers’ win earlier this year.
Some of those games have gone right down to the wire. In September 2017, Andy Dalton and the Bengals went to Lambeau Field and led 21-7 at halftime, only to watch the Packers claw back and win on Mason Crosby’s overtime field goal. Rodgers threw for 313 yards and three touchdowns that day.
The 2021 game in Cincinnati brought another tense finish. Rodgers and the Packers arrived with a 3-1 record, just like the Bengals, and the game stayed tight until the end.
Cincinnati scored on a Joe Mixon touchdown run with 3:27 left in the fourth quarter, then tied it on a 2-point conversion from Burrow to Tee Higgins. Crosby answered with a 49-yard field goal in overtime to send Green Bay home with a 25-22 win.
Rodgers finished that game 27-of-38 for 344 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Burrow went 26-of-38 for 281 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Before that season, former teammate Mike Daniels had called Burrow “ baby Aaron Rodgers,” a label that hung over the matchup.
Rodgers’ first two games against Cincinnati went the Bengals’ way. Dalton and the Bengals stunned Green Bay in September 2013 with 13 unanswered fourth-quarter points in a 34-30 win in Cincinnati, capped by Terence Newman’s 58-yard fumble return for the game-winning touchdown. In 2009, Carson Palmer, Chad Johnson and Cedric Benson helped Cincinnati beat Rodgers and the Packers 31-24 at Lambeau Field.
In Other News...
Bengals Trade Deadline Could Reopen One Painful Question From Last Year
At 6-2 heading into the NFL trade deadline, the Bengals are in a position they have not always enjoyed in recent years: they have both the record and the assets to consider a real move. The need is easy to spot. Cincinnati has questions in the running game, and injuries have started to thin out the defensive depth, which naturally pushes the conversation toward help at running back and on defense.
The market, though, is not exactly built around easy answers. Jonathan Taylor is viewed as a long shot, even with the Bengals looking for more punch on the ground, so the focus shifts to more realistic options and familiar names. One possibility is a reunion with Jessie Bates, a storyline that would reopen a painful question from last year and give Cincinnati another chance to weigh short-term help against the cost of making a move. [Read more 🡒]
Joe Burrow Already Has Another International Bengals Game In Mind
The Bengals trip to Madrid ended with another polished performance from Joe Burrow, who kept Cincinnati rolling with 24 completions on 29 attempts for 271 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-17 win over the Falcons. The victory pushed the Bengals to 6-2 and gave the latest international showcase another reminder of how comfortable Burrow can look far from home.
Now the conversation is already moving to where the NFL might take Cincinnati next. According to NFL insider Kelsey Conway, Burrow has his eye on Tokyo if the league ever stages a game there, a sign that the Bengals quarterback is not just embracing the international stage but thinking ahead to the next one. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Head Into Steelers Week With One New Injury Concern
The Bengals are back home after their trip to Spain, and the focus now shifts quickly to an AFC North meeting with the Steelers. Cincinnati left Madrid with the usual post-trip cleanup to handle, but the bigger concern coming out of the week is the health of starting guard Dylan Fairchild, who picked up an injury along the way and added a fresh question to an offensive line that has already had to manage its share of moving parts.
Zac Taylor said the team likes where its momentum is heading as it turns to Pittsburgh, and the Bengals are also keeping an eye on several injured players who could be close to returning. That matters in a division game where every practice rep counts and depth can be tested fast, especially with the Steelers next on the schedule and Cincinnati trying to keep its preparation on track while the injury report remains a live issue. [Read more 🡒]