Aaron Rodgers is closing in on another place in the NFL record book, and Week 6 could be the moment he gets there.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are 3-2 after five games, having followed a win-loss-win-loss-win pattern through the opening stretch. They’re unbeaten at home at 3-0, but still winless away from Pittsburgh at 0-2. Even with the record sitting above .500, the same questions that followed this team into the season still hang around, and nothing so far has erased the feeling that a deep playoff push is going to be a tough sell.
Rodgers, though, is still giving the Steelers reasons to keep watching. His Week 5 outing was easily his sharpest of the season: three touchdown passes, 235 yards through the air, and a 71% completion rate. If he strings together another performance like that, he’ll move closer to a milestone that puts him even deeper into NFL history.
Here’s the current all-time passing touchdown leaderboard:
- Tom Brady - 649
- Drew Brees - 571
- Peyton Manning - 539
- Aaron Rodgers - 537
Rodgers is only three touchdown passes behind Manning now, which means he could pass the Hall of Famer for third place all time as soon as this weekend. That would leave him trailing only Brady and Brees.
The four-time NFL MVP is also 34 passing touchdowns shy of tying Brees. Unless Rodgers catches fire in a major way the rest of the season, he seems likely to finish his career sitting third on the list.
The opponent this week gives him a real shot. Tampa Bay ranks 14th in points allowed per game, and the Buccaneers have given up seven passing touchdowns this season along with an opposing passer rating of 88.2. Their pass defense has held up reasonably well, but this is still a chance for Rodgers to get the number he needs.
If it doesn’t happen against the Buccaneers, Week 7 offers another path, with Pittsburgh heading on the road to face the New Orleans Saints. Given how shaky the Saints’ defense has been, Rodgers missing in Week 6 would not push the milestone far off.
However it plays out, Rodgers has already done enough over the course of his career to secure his place among the game’s greats. He has been one of the best passers in league history, and maybe the most gifted to ever play the position. He’s not the same player he once was, but with this reportedly being his final NFL season, there’s still something special about watching him chase one more marker before the curtain comes down.
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The fit, though, is far from simple. Some of the names come with obvious hurdles, whether it is the challenge of prying a player loose from another roster or the uncertainty around how realistic any deal actually is, and the Steelers also have to weigh how much they want to chase help at a spot that has become such an obvious need. As the deadline gets closer, Pittsburgh appears to be testing the market while knowing the most intriguing options may be the hardest ones to land. [Read more 🡒]