Steelers' Aaron Rodgers Gives Shocking Admission: "A Poor Practice Week"

The Pittsburgh Steelers had an awful game in Week 13, as they fell 26-9 to the Buffalo Bills. It seemed like nothing could go right on both sides, and the team was woefully unprepared for almost everything that Buffalo threw at it. This was the last game in the month of November for Pittsburgh, and the collective still has more questions than answers about how it does things and why it gets these types of results. If the Steelers don't get some answers now, they can kiss their playoff hopes goodbye. 

During his post-game press conference, quarterback Aaron Rodgers gave a surprisingly honest answer as to why the whole team played so bad throughout the contest.

"I thought we had a better preparation week and a poor practice week for whatever reason," Rodgers admitted. "I'm not sure if it was the cold weather, [or] what it was, but it was not our best week of practice."

In a game that the Steelers needed to win to set themselves up for a playoff spot, they had a "poor" week of practice and Rodgers said that the cold might have been a reason for that. There is nothing about that that could be excusable. Pittsburgh's only hope to make the postseason is to beat the division-rival Baltimore Ravens and take the AFC North. After this loss, there is almost no chance of making it in the Wild Card.

It's not like the Steelers are a Southern team that rarely travels into snowy conditions. Pennsylvania is north of the Mason Dixon line, and playing in the cold/snow/wind is nothing new for the franchise. If what Rodgers said is true, massive changes need to be made now. Northern teams have to be able to play well in winter-like conditions if they want to make the playoffs and win games then. 

In fact, there are very few places that get colder than Green Bay, Wisconsin. Rodgers has played in the North during his entire NFL career, and almost all of those seasons came with the Green Bay Packers. If there is anyone on the Steelers that should be able to coach these players on dealing with the cold, it's the starting quarterback. A cold-weather team that shuts down in the cold is an insane thought, but it's also reality in the Steel City. 

The only bit of reprieve that the Steelers get from the cold weather will be in Week 16, when they face the Detroit Lions at their indoor stadium. Every other game from here on out will be outdoors in less-than-ideal conditions, and that includes a nighttime game against the Southern-most team in the NFL, the Miami Dolphins. Pittsburgh will have to learn to deal with the cold, or else it may not win another game.

Steelers Have Had Constant Issues With Weather

It seems like the Steelers collectively shut down every time the weather conditions are not ideal. They have lost nearly every game that was not in comfortable weather over the last few years, with their biggest win being against the Ravens' backups in a Week 18 game, and they still had a lot of issues in that matchup. This is more than just a one-off situation; this is a problem that exposes the coaches and the mindset of the team. 

Mike Tomlin has been the Steelers' head coach since 2007. He has been the leader of this team throughout numerous bad weather games, but for some reason he does not have the ability to properly prepare his squad for these poor conditions. They did practice outside in the cold and the snow, which is a good first step. He now has to figure out the next step to preparing his team for these types of games.

What do you think about Rodgers admitting that the practice week was relatively poor? Let us know in the comments or on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

#SteelerNation