Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers had a quality performance against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1. Rodgers 24-40 for 221 yards and a touchdown stat line doesn’t necessarily tell the entire story, as Rodgers was consistently let down by his receivers in the contest. The veteran quarterback showed he still has the arm to make the high-quality throws he needs.
Addressing the media earlier in the week, Rodgers expressed his confidence in the team’s ability to push the ball downfield moving forward.
“Well, the whole thing can be deceiving,” Rodgers said Wednesday. “We had a PI on a third down that could have been a touchdown. We had another blatant PI on DK that wasn’t called. We had an opportunity to Roman down the field with probably PI, not called. He didn’t come up with it. I had DK in the end zone, for sure PI. He still almost made a ridiculous catch… One of those goes, two of those goes, and it’s a whole different conversation.”
While Rodgers is right that several controversial no-calls could have changed how we look at this game, wide receiver DK Metcalf had a frustrating performance. The Steelers star receiver received boos from the crowd at Acrisure Stadium after dropping a ball that hit him in the hands over the middle that would have resulted in a huge chunk gain. Metcalf was also flagged twice for offensive pass interference in the contest.
Despite a rough Week 1 performance, Rodgers is not going to shy away from targeting Metcalf moving forward.
“I’m going to keep feeding him.”
Pittsburgh’s Week 2 matchup aginst the New England patriots feels is a huge game for Metcalf, not only will he be looking to bounce back, but he could have to step up even more due to Michael Pittman Jr.‘s status being up in the air. Pittman Jr. logged consecutive DNPs on the Steelers injury report on Thursday and Friday after initially being limited on Wednesday with a foot injury. The Steelers receiver will enter the weekend with a questionable tag for Sunday’s game.
Should Pittman Jr. miss the game, this would mean extended work for second-round receiver Germie Bernard. Despite early season struggles and injuries, Rodgers seems to be showing confidence in the passing game’s ability to iron out those issues moving forward.
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- Steelers weren’t willing to give Joey Porter more guaranteed money, per report
- Steelers mailbag: Will DK Metcalf bounce back vs. Patriots?
- Joey Porter Jr leaves practice early with medical staff
- T.J. Watt already buying into playing fewer snaps
