You might not know it from their well-documented bickering last week against Cleveland, but Aaron Rodgers’ reunion with coach and play-caller Mike McCarthy is starting to yield some positive results for
the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense.
The future Hall of Fame quarterback tossed three more touchdowns in a 34-22 victory against the Indianapolis Colts on Oct. 11 at Acrisure Stadium. The effort capped a three-game streak during which he’s thrown at least three touchdowns in each outing.
No Steelers quarterback – not even his contemporary Ben Roethlisberger – has accomplished that feat since Terry Bradshaw in 1980, and Rodgers himself hasn’t had a scoring hot streak like it since his MVP season with the Green Bay Packers in 2021.
In those three games, the Steelers are averaging 29.3 points per game. Clunkers in the first two games mean the overall scoring average is 22.2 points through their first five games, a tick below their 23.4 points per game in 2025.
Still, it’s hard not see the upward trajectory the duo has been on since the 20-3 loss to New England in Week 2.
“I thought Aaron did a great job of staying on time,” McCarthy told reporters after the game. “I thought his pocket presence was excellent, his ability to move with his feet and make plays out of the pocket was exactly what we needed.”
Both player and coach downplayed the perceived friction that appeared to be on display during the Week 4 loss to the Browns as “normal.” Field microphones caught Rodgers screaming for McCarthy to call a play and cameras appeared to capture McCarthy using some colorful language to describe Rodgers.
It wasn’t Rodgers’ best night. He threw a pair of interceptions, and the Steelers needed a late touchdown just to force overtime, where the Browns won on a field goal.
The relationship also reached a point at which it wasn’t working in Green Bay, despite a Super Bowl victory together that capped the 2010 season. McCarthy was fired toward the end of 2018, which was the Packers' second consecutive season with a losing record at the time. Rodgers went on to win a pair of MVP honors under Matt LeFleur in the subsequent years.
That deep background makes the renaissance – together – all the more intriguing as the team starts to post numbers the Steelers haven’t seen in a while.
The offense hasn’t produced better than last season’s scoring average since the pandemic season of 2020 and 2018 before that. Kenny Pickett, Russell Wilson, Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph are among the names who’ve attempted to position themselves as long-term successors to Roethlisberger.
Rodgers won’t be that either. He’s signaled his intent to retire at the end of the season. Should he keep these results going, though, he’ll be the version of himself many Steelers fans hoped they’d see when he came to Pittsburgh from the New York Jets in 2025.
“I felt like we moved the ball pretty good,” Rodgers said. “We also had some splash plays.”
Running back Jaylen Warren accounted for 80 of Rodgers’ 235 yards on a single play as he galloped to the end zone after catching a screen pass in the first quarter against the Colts. He came back later with a 50-yard run for the Steelers’ other touchdown to steal most of the headlines from the day. He finished with 188 scrimmage yards.
That success doesn’t change the fact that this might be the best Rodgers has looked since joining the Steelers. At his current pace, he’d throw 34 touchdowns this season. That would be his most since 2021, and only his third 30-touchdown season since 2017.
It wouldn’t be bad for a second act for Rodgers and McCarthy. And might just be what the Steelers need to push for their first playoff win since 2017.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Steelers' Mike McCarthy, Aaron Rodgers are getting results – despite bickering
