Steelers' Mike McCarthy Threw Aaron Rodgers "Under The Bus" After Tense Week 4 Game

The Pittsburgh Steelers are not all in sync offensively, primarily with the head coach and the quarterback. The whole world saw them cursing each other out on national television Thursday night, and that was after a rough Week 3 game where the offense either had to take a bunch of timeouts to talk the play over, or rush the snap because of how long it took to get the play in the huddle. When you're consistently not ready to snap the ball until there are five seconds or less on the play clock, something is very wrong. 

There has been speculation that this reunion would not go as smoothly and as friendly as everyone had hoped. Unfortunately, those people are being proven right so far. With how great this relationship has reportedly been since Aaron Rodgers returned in May, there is still plenty of hope that he and Mike McCarthy can get an understanding of each other and work together throughout the rest of the season comfortably. So far, that trajectory is in question.

While making an appearance on Steelers Collective, insider Mark Kaboly spoke about a little detail from McCarthy's press conference that went under the radar that shows some disconnect in this relationship.

"I took that [press conference answer] as, 'Hey, Aaron had two calls in the huddle, and he chose to make that call, even though I didn't,'" Kaboly laughed. "You talk about throwing somebody under the bus; if that was the other way around, people would be all over Rodgers. It almost sounded like, to me, that he said, 'Hey, I made two plays, and he decided to roll out and throw it deep.'"

There were so many questions about that final play in the loss to the Cleveland Browns. The Steelers had 10 seconds and a timeout to work with while starting at the 35-yard line. Instead of taking that chance, Rodgers rolled to the right, which made it so his only real option to throw to was Roman Wilson, who was in triple coverage. That pass was intercepted easily and Pittsburgh lost.

What made that play worse is that DK Metcalf was wide open in the middle of the field. If Rodgers just stayed where he was, he could have hit the veteran receiver over the middle and set up Chris Boswell for a makeable game-tying field goal. Instead, the questionable play happened, and with the way Kaboly sees it, McCarthy put all the blame on his quarterback for everything that happened on that play. 

Rodgers has a history of throwing teammates and coaches under the bus, but here, it looks the roles have been reversed. If Kaboly is right, McCarthy might be done taking the blame from his quarterback when things don't go right. The real problem is if this keeps up, because if it does, there may be more viral feuds than just the aforementioned moment where they were caught swearing at each other.

Steelers Need To Stop Blaming Each Other And Take Accountability

The problem with throwing others under the bus publicly is that it fractures relationships and causes distractions. Pittsburgh has had this issue before with Ben Roethlisberger, and it led to a more toxic locker room that eventually became too much for many people within the organization. There is a chance that this could happen again if Rodgers and McCarthy don't stop going after each other. 

What both men need to do is swallow their pride and start taking more accountability publicly. Behind closed doors, they can have these conversations about how the other is not doing well like men. When there's a microphone in either of their faces, they need to just do what they can to not start any drama and hold their true thoughts until a better, more appropriate time. 

What do you think about McCarthy seemingly throwing Rodgers under the bus? Let us know on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

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