Through the first 6 games of the season, Aaron Rodgers has been everything the Steelers could have asked for. He’s completing over 68% of his passes for 7.4 yards per attempt, has a passer rating of 105.0, and is on pace for 40 (!) touchdown passes.
Yes, Rodgers could stand to throw the ball downfield more. At times, the passing attack has seemed to function as an extension of the running game. Other times, it seems like its sole purpose is to get the ball out quickly to cover for the offensive line’s early-season struggles and protect Rodgers.
As a result, the approach has predominantly been quick game, screens, smoke, RPO’s, play-action boot, and then the occasional iso throw downfield on the outside.
But there have been moments here and there where it has looked explosive. That was particularly the case in Week 7 against the Bengals. And it will be interesting to see how it evolves over the remainder of the season.
Either way, Rodgers has played well and displayed very few negatives. And when it comes to throwing the football, he looks as good as he ever has.
At the Line
Aside from throwing the ball, the best aspect of Rodgers’ game is his ability at the line of scrimmage. There’s very little that he hasn’t seen in his 21 NFL seasons. That’s helped him get the Steelers into the best looks from a run game and protection standpoint. It’s also served him well in key situations, like on 3rd down.
The below example was the Steelers’ first 3rd down of the season, a 3rd-and-10 against the Jets. Rodgers used a hard count to try and get a read on what the defense was doing. He noticed linebacker Quincy Williams (#56) move towards running back Kenneth Gainwell (#14), tipping that he was responsible for him in man coverage:
Rodgers wanted to hit Pat Freiermuth on a slant from the left side vs. 1-on-1 coverage. He didn’t want any defenders hanging out in the area, which may have happened since Gainwell was check-releasing on this play.
So he moved Gainwell to the other side of the formation. On a side note, notice how Quincy Williams tried bluffing a blitz after initially moving towards Gainwell. That was just after Rodgers’ hard count where he had tipped his hand. Williams tried to recover by then showing blitz, but the 21-year vet wasn’t fooled:
With Williams out of the way, Rodgers could now focus solely on the 1-on-1 to his left and do what he does best:
Rodgers’ experience also played a role at the end of Pittsburgh’s Week 3 win over the Patriots.
This next play was a 3rd-and-6 with 2:20 left in the game and the score tied 14-14. The Steelers were already in field goal range, but they did not want to settle for 3.
Click here to view the entire Aaron Rodgers Film Session, where I’ll show you more than 25 plays from Rodgers’ first 6 games. These film sessions are available with a Founding Member subscription, which also gets you access to our playbook that has more than 80 breakdowns grouped by concept (e.g. passing game, running game, situational, coverages, pressures, etc.) and hundreds of examples from NFL games.