The start of Aaron Rodgers’ first-ever game against the Green Bay Packers went well for the QB and his new team. The Pittsburgh Steelers went into the halftime break with a comfortable 16-7 lead. Rodgers was showcasing the mobility and arm strength that characterized his Packers career but had been missing since his Achilles tear in 2023.
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Unfortunately, the second half was a whole other story. The Packers offense, led by Rodgers’ successor, Jordan Love, was unstoppable, putting together five straight scoring drives before sealing the 35-25 win with their sixth and final drive of the half.
But it wasn’t just Love and the offense—the Packers defense tightened like a noose around Rodgers’ neck in the second half. Rodgers was sacked three times, but he was harried and hurried all night long. And, NBC analyst and Super Bowl champion coach Tony Dungy believes that Green Bay used a very Rodgers-esque strategy to take over the game in the second half.
“They really had the Aaron Rodgers game plan in the second half, the Packers did. We wanna run the ball, run the ball, throw it quick, get it to my tight end, get it to those guys, let them run after the catch, and the momentum just changed in that second half,” Dungy said via NFL on NBC.
The defense also turned it up in the second half. Rodgers was rarely able to find the time to make impact plays down the field. Outside linebackers Rashan Gary and Micah Parsons, each of whom had a 1+ sack, were big problems for the Steelers. And while both players played well, it was also the coaching that helped free up the Packers’ sack artists for their big day.
“And I thought they did one really, really smart thing. Micah was getting chipped and double-teamed on the outside, then in the obvious pass situations in the second half, they moved him inside, let him rush over the guards, he was beating people inside, forcing Rodgers not to step up,” Dungy explained.
It’s a strategy the Steelers might want to consider for their own star pass rusher, T.J. Watt, who is chipped more than anyone in the NFL and has struggled to deal with it this season.
Parsons’ sack was his fourth in the last two games, giving him 6.5 on the season, good for sixth in the league, just behind his teammate Gary, who’s in fifth with 7.5 after his two-sack day. Rodney Harrison went on to credit Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Halfley with putting those guys in the best positions to succeed, especially in the second half.
“He did a great job of just utilizing what he does best, Micah Parsons, like you talked about, putting him in the middle, allowing him to go against the center or the guard, fat guys that he can beat off the run,” Harrison said.
Green Bay had a bit of a hiccup early on in the season. They lost to the lowly Browns and tied the Cowboys in back-to-back weeks heading into their Week 5 bye. However, they have now won three straight, and this most recent one was by far their most impressive win since Week 1. The Packers will look to push their record to 6-1-1 next week when they host the Panthers.
Pittsburgh, meanwhile, has now lost two straight, falling to 4-3. And they look lost. Especially on the defensive side of the ball. They are in need of a get-right game. Badly. Unfortunately for them, next week they host the best team in the NFL right now: the 6-1 Indianapolis Colts.
