Steelers' Legendary Coach Bill Cowher Sends Revealing Message About Aaron Rodgers

The Pittsburgh Steelers pulled off a nail-biting win against the New England Patriots in Week 3, and their performance wasn't inspiring, to say the least. There's plenty of concern to go around about the team, and the play of four-time Most Valuable Player Aaron Rodgers wasn't necessarily encouraging, but there's at least one former Steelers legend who isn't as concerned as others about how the offense performed in the organization's third game.

Steelers former Super Bowl-winning Head Coach Bill Cowher, in the NFL on CBS postgame show, heaped praise on the quarterback despite a lackluster performance.

"I love his leadership, saying that 'I have to play better', and I think that's what's been missing a long time on that football team. I think there's a great complement of things going on," Cowher said. "They're sitting here at 2-1 — and the division right now — and they're in second place."

While many Steelers fans may not want to hear it, Cowher does have some good points. Despite how ugly it's looked, the team is at 2-1. The Cleveland Browns are 1-2 with a bleak outlook despite a good defense, and the Cincinnati Bengals are in trouble after Joe Burrow suffered a toe injury that will keep him out at least three months. This leaves the Steelers as the team most likely to finish in at least second place, but how they get there depends on if the offense can significantly improve over the next few weeks. 

Steelers' Rodgers Owns Up To Ugly Mistakes Against Patriots

The Steelers scored 14 points on their first two drives against the Patriots, and then didn't score again until late in the fourth quarter, on the game-winning touchdown from Rodgers to wide receiver Calvin Austin III. The team only had 203 yards of offense, opposed to 369 from New England. 

The Steelers defense managed to force five turnovers, but the team only scored 21 points. There was a lot of blame to go around, but at least some portion of it fell on Rodgers himself, who also threw an ugly interception to linebacker Robert Spillane to open up the second half. Rodgers, in his postgame press conference, spoke on his play.

"It was one of those weird & disjointed games," Rodgers said. "We just couldn't get into a rhythm at all... And then we came out, second half, and I just made a terrible throw... I thought the first two drives were really good and we just couldn't find that rhythm in the second half."

Rodgers seemed to downplay any potential long-term issues with the offense, as he did after the loss against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 2, when he stated that the team couldn't get too high or too low off of one loss in a long season. Rodgers, however, also showed some of the accountability that Cowher spoke about, putting the blame on himself without throwing any teammates under the bus.

Whether the issues with the offense are long-term or not, they will need to be fixed quickly. A major problem comes from the team's lack of ability to run the ball, with lead back Jaylen Warren finishing the game with an abysmal 2.6 yards per carry.

The Steelers will take on the Minnesota Vikings in Week 4 in Dublin, Ireland, facing a defense that held the Bengals to just three points. If there was ever a time for the offense to respond and pick up steam, it would be in a game overseas against a stout defense that hasn't allowed much all year long. 

If they can get to 3-1, no matter how ugly, the Steelers will be looking to be at the front of the race for the AFC North - a position that fans would be thrilled to see after a disappointing couple of weeks.

What did you think of the Steelers' offensive performance in Week 3? Let us know in the comments below!

#SteelerNation