In five days the Atlanta Falcons will start their 2026 season off with a tough challenge visiting the Pittsburgh Steelers. Offensively, they have to deal with a front seven that's long been one of the NFL's best. Meanwhile, Jeff Ulbrich's defense has to prepare for facing a future Hall of Famer at quarterback.
That's four-time league MVP Aaron Rodgers, who's entering what he claims will be his final season. While Rodgers is clearly past his prime at 42 years old, he remains a potent and dangerous starter even at this late stage of his career.
Here's what Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski said about preparing for Rodgers earlier this week.
"You have Coach McCarthy coming in with great success from Dallas days, from Green Bay days with, with, uh,
Aaron Rodgers... Uh, certainly, I know a lot of their players just from over the years, they have new players like all of us, all play, all teams do as, as you go year to year, but Uh, they have great players and they've got great players along the front and the back end, you know, on the perimeter on offense. Obviously, the quarterback's one of the best to ever do it."
Rodgers was good enough last season to lead the Steelers to the playoffs, posting 3,322 passing yards, 24 touchdowns, seven interceptions and a passer rating of 94.8. He completed 65.7% of his passes, right in line with his career average. His interception rate (1.4%) also matched his career mark.
While he might be a legend, Rodgers is the same as any quarterback in that his performance drops off when faced with pressure in the pocket. The big challenge for the Falcons defense will be generating that pressure without their two starting edge rushers on the field.
The Steelers are currently favored by 3.5 points, according to BetMGM.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: What Kevin Stefanski said about Aaron Rodgers going into Week 1
