Aaron Rodgers had one of the worst games of his NFL career in Week 10 against the Los Angeles Chargers. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense was basically non-existent, with Rodgers making a ton of mistakes. While he only had two turnovers, he missed plenty of throws that he would normally make. Also, his pocket presence was off, having happy feet throughout the Steelers’ 25-10 loss. Former NFL corner Asante Samuel Sr., father of new Steelers cornerback Asante Samuel Jr., believes Rodgers is holding Pittsburgh back.
“I think Aaron Rodgers is too old,” Samuel said recently on his Say What Needs to be Said podcast. “He doesn’t want to get tackled or hit like he used to back in the day. I think Aaron Rodgers is killing their chances.”
Rodgers was a negative asset for the Steelers in Week 10. However, that shouldn’t take away from what he has done as a whole this season. Rodgers played fine before last week. Yes, he had other games that weren’t great, like Week 2 against the Seattle Seahawks, but overall, he’s been fine.
Compare what Rodgers is doing this season to other Steelers quarterbacks in recent years. He’s been better than Mitch Trubisky, Kenny Pickett, Russell Wilson, and Justin Fields. Rodgers has 1,853 passing yards, 18 touchdowns, and seven interceptions in nine games. He already has the most passing touchdowns by a Steelers quarterback in a season since Ben Roethlisberger in 2021.
Samuel offered a theory as to why Rodgers has been struggling with the Steelers.
“Aaron Rodgers, he needs that wide receiver that can get open instantly. He doesn’t have that,” Samuel said. “This is a big adjustment for him because he always had that wide receiver that he could depend on. DK Metcalf, he’s just too slow. He doesn’t get going fast enough, and that isn’t going to be suffice enough for Aaron Rodgers.”
Metcalf isn’t the NFL’s best route runner, but speed certainly isn’t an issue for him. He ran a 4.33 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine in 2019. That’s great, especially for a player of his size. He hasn’t lost that athleticism yet, either.
Also, the connection between Metcalf and Rodgers hasn’t been awful. It’s fair to say that it definitely could be better, but part of that could be due to the Steelers’ offense. Rather than take advantage of Metcalf’s abilities downfield, the Steelers more often than not ask him to create yards after the catch.
While Samuel doesn’t love the Steelers’ offense, he doesn’t sound too upset that his son signed with the team.
“Finally, Asante Samuel Jr. has signed. He is feeling great. The neck injury and the spinal cord injury, all that is feeling great,” Samuel said. “There’s always still some things to be concerned about, that’s just playing the sport of football. But he is a Steeler now. It’s a good situation for me.”
We’ll see if Rodgers bounces back and proves the elder Samuel wrong. The Steelers play the Cincinnati Bengals, who have the worst defense in the league, on Sunday. That should give Rodgers a good opportunity to put together a good game. He threw for almost 250 yards and four touchdowns in the Steelers’ first game against the Bengals. Perhaps he’ll have a similar performance this week.
Source link
