The Steelers will open the NFL preseason on Thursday against the Packers, and the biggest question hanging over the matchup is whether Aaron Rodgers will actually see the field. Both teams have said their starters will play at least part of the game, but Rodgers’ status remains uncertain. If he does suit up, this would likely be the final time he faces his former team.
There’s also a new look in Pittsburgh with the Mike McCarthy era getting underway, and the early preseason spotlight is already landing on the roster battles behind the scenes. Rico Dowdle has joined the Steelers after a season in Carolina in which he averaged 4.6 yards per carry, and he enters a crowded running back room that also includes Jaylen Warren, Kaleb Johnson, and Travis Homer. How Dowdle looks in August could shape how the carries are divided once the games start counting.
From a betting angle, this one is less about chasing a coach with a better preseason résumé and more about which sideline seems better positioned to get what it wants out of Week 1. Both head coaches sit around .500 in preseason play, so there’s no real edge there. These games are mostly about evaluation, and that usually means a heavy dose of young players getting real snaps.
That’s why the lean here is toward the team with the younger roster and the coach who has had more time in place. McCarthy may still be figuring out his preseason rhythm, while LaFleur should have a clearer sense of what he wants from Green Bay right out of the gate.
For Thursday’s exhibition opener, the Packers are the side to back.
In Other News...
Steelers Fans Have A Real Killer Bs Hall Of Fame Debate
The old Killer Bs debate is back in a new form, and it is one Steelers fans know well. LeVeon Bell, Antonio Brown and Ben Roethlisberger all built Hall of Fame-worthy resumes in Pittsburgh, the kind that still sparks conversation years after the offense was broken apart. Their peak years helped define an era for the franchise, and even now the question is less about whether their careers belong in Canton than how the voters will sort through them.
For Bell, Brown and Roethlisberger, the resume is there, but so is the baggage, which is why the timing may matter as much as the credentials. Brown and Roethlisberger in particular figure to face a more complicated path, and Roethlisbergers case could be affected by the crowd of eligible players coming in 2028. For Steelers fans, it is another reminder that the legacy of that offense is still being written, even if the ending feels inevitable. [Read more 🡒]
Steelers Roster Battles Are Heating Up Before The Next Game
With the next game drawing closer, the Steelers are in the thick of several roster evaluations that go beyond the usual preseason checklist. Pittsburgh is sorting through competition at quarterback and along the offensive line, while the larger conversation around the team keeps circling back to possible quarterback movement across the league and former safety Minkah Fitzpatricks thoughts on the defense.
The most interesting subplots are tucked into the depth chart, where familiar names are trying to carve out a role before decisions get harder. Quarterback remains a particularly watchable spot, and there is just as much attention on the interior line, where a backup job could be decided by one good practice or one clean series in the upcoming game. [Read more 🡒]
Steelers Season Suddenly Carries One Uncomfortable Aaron Rodgers Twist
Aaron Rodgers barely has time to settle into the Steelers season before the chatter around him has already turned to the trade deadline. Mike Florio raised the possibility that Pittsburgh could explore moving the quarterback if things go off the rails, but for now the organization is operating with a very different mindset, one centered on pushing toward a Super Bowl rather than thinking about an exit ramp.
Even so, the conversation lingers because the league landscape is not exactly offering an obvious escape hatch. If the Steelers ever did decide Rodgers was available, there does not appear to be a clear NFL team lined up as a realistic landing spot, which only adds to how unusual this whole twist feels. For the moment, the football world is left to watch whether this is just speculative noise or a storyline that could gain real traction later in the fall. [Read more 🡒]