While he didn’t want to discuss what was said postgame between himself and Jordan Love, Aaron Rodgers was willing to share his emotions following Sunday night’s loss to his former team.
Rodgers and the Steelers enjoyed a solid start that led to a 16-7 halftime lead. But the Packers flipped the script in the second half, as Love led the Packers on five scoring drives while completing 20 straight passes.
“Disappointed,” Rodgers said afterward. “Disappointed I didn’t play better, that we didn’t play better, especially in the second half.”
Discipline issues, Rodgers said, and third-down woes were two of the biggest issues the Steelers’ offense had on Sunday night.
Pittsburgh’s offense, which entered the weekend as the NFL’s eighth-ranked unit on third down, was just 1 of 10 on converting in those situations Sunday night.
The Steelers’ early inability to convert on third down prevented them from taking an even bigger halftime lead as they had to settle for three Chris Boswell field goals. Rodgers attributed some of the third down issues to getting behind the sticks early with either negative plays or penalties. He also said he could have been more accurate on possession downs.
The Steelers compounded the issue with multiple senseless penalties, especially DK Metcalf’s eye poke of Packers linebacker Quay Walker that cost the Steelers 15 yards.
“It’s not our style of business, and we can’t live like that,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said of his team’s unnecessary penalties.
Rodgers, who finished the night with 219 yards and two touchdowns on 24 of 36 passing, pointed to the start of the second half as a key turning point in the game.
Pittsburgh got the ball to start the second half but was forced to punt after it appeared that the Packers’ defense got away with an offsides that if penalized would have given the Steelers a third-and-3 situation. Instead, the Packers got the ball and quickly stole the game’s momentum when Love hit Tucker Kraft on a 59-yard completion that set up the first of Green Bay’s four second-half touchdowns.
Speaking of Love, Rodgers was clearly impressed with what he was on Sunday night. Love, who became the first Packers quarterback since Brett Favre back in 2007 to complete 20 straight passes in a game, finished the night with 360 yards and three touchdowns on 29 of 37 passing.
“He played fantastic,” Rodgers said. “He’s had a really nice season. He’s been really efficient with the football. He’s opportunistic, though I felt like he was very patient tonight. They took the run solutions. He took the check downs, moved in the pocket well. Thought he played really well.”
With regard to his emotions going up against his former team, Rodgers said that it would have been considerably different had Sunday night’s game been played at Lambeau Field. Ironically, there were moments where it sounded like the game was being played in Green Bay, as “Go Pack, Go!” chants could be heard throughout the game and especially in the second half.
“I’ve heard that chant for 18 years,” Rodgers said. “Packer fans travel really well. First time in a while I’ve used silent count for a home game. That’s a credit to those Packers fans.”
Rodgers took time this past week to reflect on his decorated career with the Packers. But after Sunday’s game, though, the 41-year-old, four-time league MVP was focused on his current team and what they need to do amid a two-game losing streak and the 7-1 Colts coming to town next Sunday.
“Well, just an honest assessment,” he said. “I think, setting feelings aside and being OK with criticism, any position, any player, and being honest about what we need to do to improve. And then, we can’t beat ourselves.
“I think in the three losses, there’s been times where we’ve had opportunities and we’ve hurt ourselves with either turnovers or just negative plays. So we’ve got to cut those out. We’ve gotta get on the same page on both offense and defense, and keep the faith.”
