An NFL exec didn't mince words while calling out the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers following the team's disappointing 20-3 loss to the New England Patriots . According to the exec, the 42-year-old quarterback is not a good option for Pittsburgh .
"What did you expect?" the exec told The Athletic's Mike Sando. "He's 42, can't do it anymore. Never thought that would work anymore."
On paper, it's certain that Rodgers is no longer in his prime. His 2025 numbers proved that, yet the Steelers went after him once again, with Mike McCarthy returning to head coach the Steelers. But Rodgers' struggles in the first two weeks of the 2026 season are evident. However, Steelers legend James Harrison doesn't think like that . According to him, it's the offensive line that's failing the 42-year-old quarterback.
"It's the damn offensive line. The same thing, you know, early in the in the year or through training camp where they were trying to put together so many different combinations. Now they're like, 'You know what? That probably was a bad idea.' Like, we need to get one combination together so that we can get them some time together because it was a good number of stuff where cats were just running free. They weren't even getting to a dude.
"They weren't fanning out to get to it, and he said he had to condense the playbook to make it simpler. So, for you as whoever this exact is to just be like it's all Aaron, he's old, he can't do it. You're crazy. Did you see some of those throws that he made? Yeah, he made some bad throws, but all quarterbacks do. But for him to just lay it all on Aaron, you're crazy. Like, who you think going to come in there? You going to have Mason (Rudolph) or Will (Howard) or (Drew) Allar do better with the line that we have?"
Rodgers completed 23-of-39 passes for 187 yards, no touchdown, and 1 interception. But the offensive line was, in fact, a major issue in the Steelers' Week 2 loss to the Patriots. New England blitzed Rodgers on 39% of his dropbacks. It's his highest blitz rate in a game since joining Pittsburgh.
The Patriots sent pressure on 18 dropbacks, and the Steelers managed only 43 yards against those blitzes. Rodgers was sacked four times, fumbled twice, and threw an interception. Post-game analysis confirmed that New England generated 12 pressures, with the defensive front repeatedly winning against Pittsburgh's offensive line.
At the same time, Rodgers couldn't generate explosive passing plays either. The Patriots' pressure was compounded by Pittsburgh's inability to attack downfield. Rodgers completed only 3 of 9 passes thrown 10 or more air yards, producing 49 yards on those throws. Even more concerning, he was 0-for-9 on passes of 20-plus air yards through the first two games of the season.
That disappointing performance from the offensive line prompted head coach Mike McCarthy to take the blame on himself, while acknowledging that the team needs to provide a better platform to its quarterback.
"We got a quarterback who can play at any volume of game plan, but at the end of the day it's a team game, and we have to give Aaron Rodgers better platforms to throw off of," said McCarthy. "I don't want to dink and dunk … there's a place for that maybe situationally, but that's not the philosophy — we have to attempt to get the ball thrown downfield."
Meanwhile, the Steelers have scored just one touchdown in the first eight quarters of the season. Against the Patriots, the offense produced only 235 total yards, or 3.5 yards per play. Pittsburgh also went only 2-for-12 on third down, a major reason it repeatedly failed to sustain drives.
The lack of explosive plays was particularly striking. Pittsburgh ran 67 offensive plays, but only one gained more than 20 yards: a 26-yard Jaylen Warren checkdown that came with just 6:24 remaining in the fourth quarter, when New England already led 20-3. After the disappointing loss, Aaron Rodgers pointed out things that the Steelers are not doing well.
"In a game like today where there wasn't a lot of flow to it, we need to be better," Rodgers told the reporters. "And that starts with me at like making sure Mike knows what's working, what's not working, our coaches know, and — so we can call stuff that we feel like has a better chance."
At the same time, he also acknowledged an offense overloaded with plays.
"If there's too much stuff in the plan, we've got to cut it back," the quarterback added. "I'm always liking to push the envelope, and if I see guys doing it the right way in practice, then I feel good about it, but we've got to transfer the practice to the game obviously and the details gotta come with it."
That said, while the NFL exec's comments about Aaron Rodgers' play have gained traction, it is also safe to say that the offensive line is putting Rodgers in a bad place and that he is currently a better option to run the offense, considering an inexperienced depth chart behind him.
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