Aaron Rodgers is no doubt playing his best football with the Pittsburgh Steelers since at least 2022. But it’s still a far cry from his MVP days in 2020 and 2021. Rodgers has been good, but at 41 years old, the comparisons to his Green Bay Packers successor, Jordan Love, are starting to lean the other way. Even Rodgers’ own Green Bay predecessor says so.
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Rodgers missed Week 12 with a slight fracture in his non-throwing left hand but is expected back in the lineup possibly next week. Before the injury, it was clear that he had improved from his rocky two-year stint with the New York Jets. But it’s also clear that the QB he helped groom for three years in Wisconsin has surpassed his talents.
Rodgers’ mentor, Brett Favre, notes that Love “can play better at times.” The Hall of Famer also says Love can clearly make all the throws, and of the two QBs right now, Love is the one who Favre believes has been “a little more consistent.” Considering one’s in his prime and the other’s nearing AARP age, we would hope that would be the case. But it’s still significant.
“I think Jordan has shown he can make all the throws. I think he has shown that his teammates love playing with him and for him. If you go back two years, they were basically a play away from … a shot to play for the Super Bowl,” the former QB said on his podcast, 4th & Favre.
“That team really hasn’t changed, if anything, they’ve added some key components that make them better… Any quarterback has to play consistently—not great—but consistently good… to give your team a chance to win,” Favre added.
It’s hard to disagree with Favre. And while Love and the Packers haven’t been perfect (see: losses to the Browns and Panthers and near-losses to the Cardinals and Giants), Rodgers has been even more inconsistent.
The 41-year-old QB has had three multi-INT games this season, all of which unsurprisingly led to Steelers losses. That performance against the Chargers a couple of weeks ago was as ugly as it gets. However, as Favre says, Rodgers has still shown improvement despite the fact that he’s about to turn 42 years old.
“Pittsburgh is more than likely going to win their division. Part of it’s by default because the other teams are not playing very well. But Aaron, I think, has played considerably better this year, than he has the last couple of years. … I’ve seen flashes of what we’ve known with Aaron.”
The Rodgers-Love pair squared off in prime time in Pittsburgh earlier this year, and Love clearly got the better of the battle in a comfortable 35-25 win. The Packers QB threw up some real ducks that just happened to be caught by his receiver teammates, but he played more consistently throughout the game.
He made plays in the first half and the second half to push Green Bay to the win, while Rodgers and company seemed to run out of steam as the game went on. Steelers fans will hope that’s not indicative of how the rest of the season will go.
