Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has made very few mistakes since coming to the Steel City this season. Perhaps his worst one came in his team's Thursday night loss on the road against the Cincinnati Bengals. Late in the first half, with a 10-7 lead, Rodgers threw a deep pass to wide receiver DK Metcalf, who was double-covered. The pass was intercepted and eventually led to opposing quarterback Joe Flacco and Cincinnati getting points. It was one of two interceptions on the night for the future Hall of Fame signal-caller, and the Steelers would go on to lose 33-31.
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Steelers' Aaron Rodgers speaks with Bengals' Joe Flacco after a loss in the 2025 season.
However, former Steelers quarterback and two-time Super Bowl champion Charlie Batch recently spoke about Rodgers' mistake on The Snap Count and illustrated why it wasn't all on him.
"[Rodgers] knows that's on him," Batch explained. "Just don't turn the ball over. It was a poor design of the play. You're trying to hit DK on the go route, but you're bringing Roman Wilson from the left side to the right side, and that's naturally going to gravitate the safety over to DK."
Batch, who played 15 years in the NFL and 11 for the Steelers, is alluding to the play design being the issue more so than the decision by Rodgers. The person who is generally in charge of designing the plays on offense is the offensive coordinator. In Pittsburgh, the offensive coordinator is Arthur Smith. While Rodgers, Smith, and the rest of the offense have had some success to start the 2025 season, this was a critical error in a game that was decided by less than a field goal.
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Steelers OC Arthur Smith during training camp in Latrobe, PA 2025, along with Aaron Rodgers (right).
With this loss, the Steelers are only a game up on the Bengals in the AFC North. That is how important each choice is in the NFL. One bad decision can mean the difference in a game and a playoff race. Nevertheless, the Steelers have shown explosiveness at times through their first six games on offense. They have put up multiple 30-point performances and four games with at least 24 points.
Aaron Rodgers Gets Golden Opportunity To Bounce Back On Sunday Night
Despite Rodgers showing off his elite abilities in Thursday night's loss (four touchdown passes), he likely won't forget throwing those two interceptions. However, he has a great opportunity in front of him to bounce back this weekend. His old team, the Green Bay Packers, will be traveling to face the Steelers on Sunday Night Football. Much like his predecessor in Green Bay, Brett Favre, who had to face the Packers as a member of the rival Minnesota Vikings, Rodgers now gets a crack at his old team.
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Former Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers communicating to teammates during a game.
The four-time MVP spent a franchise-record 18 seasons (2005-2022) with the Packers. He most notably led them to a victory in Super Bowl XLV over the Steelers, ironically enough. After the 2022 season, Green Bay decided to trade him to the New York Jets. After two bumpy seasons there, Rodgers found his way to Pittsburgh.
Sunday night will likely have a lot of emotion involved and a lot of eyes on it. The key for Rodgers will be to not let anything affect him. Of course, he's been one of the all-time greats as it pertains to staying focused on the task at hand. Remember, he holds the league's all-time record for touchdown-to-interception ratio (4.4-1). If he can take care of the football on Sunday night like he has done his entire career, the Steelers could very well come away with a much-needed victory to get their season back on track. After the Packers come to town, the 6-1 Indianapolis Colts will follow. Then, Mike Tomlin and co. will have to make the long trip out west to face the Los Angeles Chargers before coming back home to Acrisure Stadium to face the Bengals once again.
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