Steelers' Offensive Braintrust Gets Laughed At By Browns' Denzel Ward

The Pittsburgh Steelers blew their perfect chance to clinch the AFC North in Week 17. While playing against a 3-12 Cleveland Browns team, the offense failed to get into the end zone once. Multiple offensive failures came together to result in a 13-6 loss. The last one was quarterback Aaron Rodgers throwing up three straight end zone passes to receiver Marquez Valdez-Scantling, with none of them being completed. Nothing went right in the contest, and now the team has to fight for its life in a do-or-die Week 18 divisional contest. 

All three of those passes to Valdez-Scantling were defended by cornerback Denzel Ward, who is one of the best cornerbacks in the game. Rodgers liked the one-on-one matchup with his old friend, but the coverage was great each time. The third time was not the charm in this case, and Ward got the best of the veteran quarterback in the sequence.

During his post-game interview, Ward laughed at the Steelers for the decisions that made on that final drive to seal the defeat.

"I'm just always prepared and ready for moments like that, but I just try to make it hard on teams every time they decide to look at the scouting report and see who they're going to attack," Ward said. "Lastly, I don't know whose bright idea it was to try me for the game for three plays in a row, but we were able to come through and get the win."

It's unclear whether it was Rodgers that wanted to just throw up three straight jump balls to Valdez-Scantling or if Offensive Coordinator Arthur Smith told him to do so. Either way, it did not work at all, and the Browns are laughing to the bank after keeping the Steelers from winning the division in Week 17. Ward got to remind everyone that he actually is hard to pass against when he's locking up his man on the outside. 

To make it worse, Rodgers may have had a touchdown on that final drive. Running back Kenneth Gainwell perfectly executed a block-and-release to buy his quarterback some time, and he was wide open in the middle of the field. If Gainwell was hit in stride, there is a very good chance that he would have scored to completely change the outcome of the contest. Instead, Ward got to laugh about how often he was targeted without it actually working. 

Usually, Rodgers is very good at reading a defense and figuring out where the hole is going to be. That's why the Steelers were so desperate to sign him in the first place. Instead, it seemed like he pre-determined where he was going to throw the ball all three times when he would have been better off taking his time and seeing how the play unfolded. That's a sequence that he will want back when he watches the film on Monday and Tuesday.

Steelers Fans' Fears May Have Come True In Pivotal Game

Despite playing well in recent games, people still remember the reputation that Rodgers had during his time with the New York Jets. He was seen as a player that wanted to target his old buddies from the Green Bay Packers, since that is what gave him comfort. That was not the case throughout the entire 2025 season with the Steelers, but that trend may have popped back up. 

The tape shows how open Gainwell was, and tight end Pat Freiermuth is still a very reliable target in the red zone. He was even the main guy that got them to the red zone in the first place with a pair of big catches. Instead, Rodgers kept trying to force-feed his old Packers teammate the game-tying touchdown, and it just never happened. 

What do you think about Ward laughing at the Steelers? Let us know in the comments or on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

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