Steelers vs. Chargers: Pittsburgh’s offense, Aaron Rodgers look washed in Los Angeles’ dominant 25-10 victory
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ lead in the AFC North is down to one game. Given how poorly they played on Sunday night, it seems impossible that they’ll hold off the Baltimore Ravens for much longer. Especially if what we saw Sunday was the start of a rapid descent for Aaron Rodgers.
The Steelers’ offense has lacked explosive plays all season and on Sunday night Pittsburgh couldn’t even grind out many successful short plays. There was just nothing happening for the offense at all.
The drawbacks of having a quarterback who will turn 42 years old next month were evident. Rodgers hasn’t been bad this season, but there’s a reason there has been almost no success for quarterbacks of his age, aside from Tom Brady. Rodgers had one of the worst games of his career and the Los Angeles Chargers pulled away for an easy 25-10 win. The worst passer rating for a game in Rodgers’ career before Sunday night was 34.3, which he posted in a 2014 loss at the Buffalo Bills. After an interception midway through the fourth quarter he had just 96 yards and a passer rating of 19.5.
Rodgers got a garbage time touchdown to Roman Wilson to make his final numbers look a little better, though they weren’t good. He finished 16-of-31 passing for 161 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions and a 50.6 passer rating. At least he avoided a new career low rating.
The Chargers’ defense has been playing well and had an excellent game Sunday night. But Pittsburgh’s issues played into that. The Steelers did nothing at the trade deadline and that leaves a stale offense that relies heavily on a bunch of passes near the line of scrimmage to tight ends from their past-his-prime quarterback.
It’s not a formula that is likely to win a division title.
Steelers struggle to move the ball
The Steelers’ defense was fine to start Sunday night’s game, but the offense wasn’t.
The biggest play of the first half was a mistake from Rodgers. He was under pressure and retreated into his end zone, and by the time he realized his mistake it was too late. Khalil Mack tracked him down and sacked him in the end zone for a safety.
That play summed up the first half. Rodgers was 7-of-14 passing for 64 yards and an interception. His passer rating was 33. That’s uncharacteristic for Rodgers, who is second in NFL history in passer rating. But this isn’t the version of Rodgers who won four MVPs.
It got worse in the second half.
Another Rodgers mistake led to the first touchdown of the game. He threw high to DK Metcalf and it was picked off. The Chargers cashed that in with a Ladd McConkey touchdown catch with 12 seconds left in the half.
The Chargers led 12-3 at halftime. They hadn’t played well. The Steelers had just played far worse.
It stayed ugly for Steelers in second half
The Steelers’ first score of the game was a field goal with 1:44 left in the first quarter. It came after a bad Chargers punt. Pittsburgh gained 5 yards on that drive without getting a first down, and Chris Boswell hit a 59-yard field goal to salvage some points. That was the highlight of the night for Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh got into the red zone early in the fourth quarter after a missed Chargers field goal and a couple of nice plays from running back Jaylen Warren. But Rodgers threw incomplete on three straight downs, including a throw on fourth down to DK Metcalf in the end zone that never had a chance. The Steelers were still stuck on three points.
After that the Chargers put the game away. McConkey had a 58-yard catch on an extremely tight window throw from Justin Herbert, and Kimani Vidal scored on a touchdown run. The Chargers led 22-3 and the Steelers weren’t scoring enough to get back in the game.
A mistake after that wasn’t Rodgers’ fault. His pass bounced off Calvin Austin III’s hands and went right to cornerback Donte Jackson. The Steelers’ inactivity at the trade deadline, especially at receiver, was evident Sunday.
The Steelers have had some good moments this season. That’s a reason they have a winning record and are still in first place of the division. But the flaws are evident. And the Ravens are tracking them down at a rapid pace.
Follow along with Yahoo Sports for live updates, highlights and more as the Steelers and Chargers close out the Sunday game slate on “Sunday Night Football.”
