The Steelers’ offense is off to a sluggish start, and after two weeks, the conversation in Pittsburgh is already drifting toward the quarterback position.
Aaron Rodgers had a rough afternoon in the Steelers’ 20-3 loss to the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. He finished 23 of 39 for 187 yards, threw one interception and was sacked four times. ESPN’s Dan Grazino even floated Rodgers in his Week 2 overreactions, raising the possibility that Pittsburgh could eventually look elsewhere if the offense keeps sputtering.
That said, the problems in this offense run deeper than one quarterback. Pittsburgh produced only 235 total yards against New England, converted just two of 12 third downs and managed 91 rushing yards on 23 carries. The unit never found a rhythm.
Rodgers had especially little room to work when the pressure arrived. ESPN noted he went 5-for-12 for 34 yards and took four sacks while pressured on Sunday. Through two games, ESPN says he has completed only 33% of his passes for 3.5 yards per attempt under pressure.
Even with those numbers, Grazino still called the idea of benching Rodgers an “overreaction.”
Rodgers and first-year head coach Mike McCarthy came together in Pittsburgh this season with championship aspirations, and ESPN pointed out that McCarthy is unlikely to jump to Mason Rudolph, Will Howard or Drew Allar this early, especially with the Steelers still in postseason contention.
McCarthy didn’t hide from the offensive mess after the loss. He said the problems begin with him and emphasized the need to give Rodgers cleaner pockets and better chances to operate.
"We've got to give Aaron better platforms to throw off," McCarthy said in the postgame press conference.
Rodgers, for his part, owned his share of the blame.
"I don't feel like there was anybody who had an exceptional game out there," Rodgers said. "We all played below our standard."
So far, Pittsburgh has scored 26 points in two games and has just one offensive touchdown. That came in the Week 1 win over the Atlanta Falcons.
Rodgers said the mood won’t turn into panic.
"You're not going to see me panic," Rodgers said. "I don't think Mike's going to panic. Urgency is going to go up a little bit for sure, but no panic."
The Steelers sit at 1-1, so there’s still time for Rodgers and McCarthy to get the offense moving. But with the production this shaky through two games, the quarterback questions aren’t going away anytime soon if the struggles continue.
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