The Pittsburgh Steelers took a step back from their season-opening performance, suffering a decisive loss to the New England Patriots. After failing to score a single touchdown, Aaron Rodgers made it clear that he needs to improve communication with his coaching staff in order to execute plays that truly work.
“In a game like today where there wasn’t a lot of flow to it, we need to be better,” Rodgers told reporters once the game concluded. “And that starts with me at like making sure Mike knows what’s working, what’s not working, our coaches know, and — so we can call stuff that we feel like has a better chance.”
The overwhelming number of plays may have worked against the veteran quarterback. In fact, A-Rod expressed his support for finding a way to simplify the game plan throughout the game.
“If there’s too much stuff in the plan, we’ve got to cut it back,” Rodgers added. “I’m always liking to push the envelope, and if I see guys doing it the right way in practice, then I feel good about it, but we’ve got to transfer the practice to the game obviously and the details gotta come with it.”
This is a pretty passive aggressive comment from Aaron Rodgers. Says he needs to do a better job of letting the coaches know they’re calling the wrong plays 😂. He didn’t do this one time under Tomlin. pic.twitter.com/jIuFLXAYGx
— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) September 20, 2026
Something went wrong for the Steelers
The Steelers‘ offense looked completely stuck in the mud in their brutal 20-3 loss to the Patriots. The gameplan completely sputtered out as Aaron Rodgers couldn’t get anything going downfield, finishing with just 187 passing yards, zero touchdowns, an interception, and a strip-sack fumble returned for a Pats score.
New England’s heavy blitz strategy completely overwhelmed Pittsburgh’s game plan: Rodgers was under pressure on nearly 39% of his drop backs and took four sacks, while DK Metcalf was effectively bracketed out of the game with just 27 receiving yards. To make matters worse, Pittsburgh completely failed on possession downs—converting an abysmal 2-of-12 on third down—and averaged 3.5 yards per play as they failed to hit the end zone all afternoon.
Aaron Rodgers was crushed and nobody wanted to pick up the football pic.twitter.com/HemPRB7wpU
— JM Football (@JomboyMediaFB) September 20, 2026
Rodgers trusts McCarthy to turn things around
Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy know each other well, and each trusts what the other can bring to the team. The coach’s experience could certainly help Steelers Nation bounce back from the performance they showed at Gillette Stadium.
“I’ve seen Mike for 14 years. So, Mike is going to take accountability, sometimes when it’s not his fault, doesn’t need to do that,” Rodgers said. “But Mike loves the guys, and he wants us to have some urgency and to bounce back with this, and I know we will.”
What’s next for the Steelers?
The Steelers have a tough stretch ahead to fix that sluggish offense. First, they head back home to Acrisure Stadium on Sunday, September 27 to host their division rival, the Cincinnati Bengals. Just four days later, on Thursday, October 1, they have a short-week road trip to face the Cleveland Browns at Huntington Bank Field. Finally, they return to Pittsburgh on Sunday, October 11 to lock horns with the Indianapolis Colts.
Key takeaways
- The Pittsburgh Steelers suffered a 20-3 loss against the New England Patriots.
- Aaron Rodgers threw for 187 passing yards with zero touchdowns and one interception.
- Third-down struggles limited Pittsburgh’s offense to a 2-of-12 conversion rate.
