This might sound hard to believe, given the length of his career, but when Aaron Rodgers visits Acrisure Stadium on Sunday night, it will be just the second career game in Pittsburgh for the 40-year-old quarterback.
It has been almost 15 years since Rodgers has suited up for a game here, since he was on the wrong end of a 37-36 shootout against Ben Roethlisberger in December 2009.
That drought will end Sunday night when the 4-2 Steelers host the 2-4 New York Jets.
Rodgers is 1-1 in the regular season against the Steelers in his 20-year NFL career. And, of course, he has that victory with the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XLV to hold over the Steelers.
Since the teams met in February 2011 in Dallas, Rodgers went a decade without facing the Steelers. He was inactive for a 2013 matchup at Lambeau Field and was on injured reserve when they met in 2017 at Acrisure Stadium.
Rodgers got that lone regular-season win in 2021 when he led the Packers to a 27-17 victory at Lambeau Field. Spanning those three career matchups, Rodgers has passed for 935 yards with eight touchdowns and zero interceptions.
While the Steelers might not have much familiarity facing Rodgers, they are aware of his accolades that include four MVP awards and 10 Pro Bowl nods.
Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin saw enough of Rodgers during his four seasons as Detroit Lions defensive coordinator from 2014-17. Austin schemed against Rodgers twice a season until Rodgers missed both matchups in 2017 because of injury.
“There’s not a lot you can throw at him that he hasn’t seen,” said Austin, whose Lions were 2-4 in those matchups against Rodgers. “You run across those issues, and you try to disguise coverages, fronts, all the stuff to try to keep him out of the right play.”
Austin said that even at age 40, Rodgers has the “quickest release” he’s seen from a quarterback.
“He can flick the ball, and it can go a long way and he is very accurate,” he said. “His accuracy is unbelievable. He presents a lot of problems that way.”
If Russell Wilson, as expected, starts at quarterback for the Steelers, it will be his 10th career matchup against Rodgers. Their biggest encounter came in the NFC championship game following the 2014 season. Wilson threw a touchdown pass in overtime to lift the Seattle Seahawks to a 28-22 victory and deny Rodgers a second Super Bowl appearance.
“He’s a tremendous quarterback, obviously, a Hall of Fame quarterback, a guy who has been in the league a long time,” Wilson said. “We’ve had some battles along the way. I really respect how he throws the football and how he goes about throwing it. It’s very special to watch.”
