The Steelers are sitting on a four-game winning streak and the top spot in the AFC North, but their offense still has a red-zone problem that won’t go away quietly.
Through eight games of the 2026 season, Pittsburgh has posted one of the league’s worst touchdown rates in the red zone and inside the 10-yard line, according to Sharp Football Analysis. Aaron Rodgers has already addressed it himself after the Week 7 win over New Orleans, and he said the group “didn't execute at the goal line” in the Week 8 victory over Cleveland.
Now, two ESPN analysts are pointing the finger at Rodgers for part of the issue. On Monday’s edition of the “Leaguewide” podcast, Ben Solak and Dan Graziano laid out a theory for why the Steelers keep coming up short in close.
“If you have a quarterback who’s gonna check out of run plays at the goal line because he’s trying to get as high as possible on the all-time touchdown passes [list] before he retires, that’s gonna bite you at some point because you have a selfish player at the most important position,” Graziano said.
“Jets coaches talked about, two years ago, him checking out of run plays at the goal line so he can throw touchdown passes to Davante Adams.”
Solak added that Pittsburgh has thrown the ball on 71 percent of its snaps inside the 10-yard line this season. Only two teams over the last four seasons have been higher, he said: the 2023 Jets and the 2024 Jets. Rodgers was the Jets’ starter in 2024, while his 2023 season was basically wiped out after he tore his Achilles tendon in New York’s opener.
“Aaron Rodgers is stat hunting and has been stat hunting for a long time,” Solak said.
There was at least one example on Sunday that cut the other way. Mike McCarthy credited Rodgers for calling the play on a Pat Freiermuth touchdown sneak near the end of the first half against the Browns. Pittsburgh also got a nine-yard touchdown run from Rico Dowdle in the first quarter and a one-yard scoring run from Jaylen Warren in the third quarter after Darnell Washington’s 58-yard rumble down the sideline.
Those drives might be enough to nudge the Steelers toward more runs in the red zone.
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