brooke prior
PITTSBURGH — After completing less than 50% of his pass attempts in Sunday’s 26-7 loss to the Buffalo Bills, quarterback Aaron Rodgers suggested two simple solutions to get on the same page with his wide receivers with just five weeks remaining in the regular season.
“When there’s a film session, everybody comes over, and when I check a route, you check the right route,” Rodgers said. “… We have meetings every week. We have other opportunities outside the facility, and (I’m) looking forward to meeting all the boys there.”
Playing with a black cast to protect his broken left wrist, Rodgers completed only 10 of 21 attempts for 117 yards, his third-lowest score in any game where he threw at least 20 passes. His 10 completions were the fewest of any game with 20 pass attempts. The quarterback, who turned 42 on Tuesday, also was stripped on the first play of the third quarter because he spent time in the pocket waiting for receivers to open up.
“I feel good being out there, just not ready to take a picture under center, hopefully next week,” he said. “Disappointed with my performance, disappointed with my offensive performance and it’s got to be over with.”
Rodgers and his receivers have struggled to connect on deep and mid-range passes all season, and Sunday was no different. On third-and-4 in the first quarter, Rodgers tried to hit second-year receiver Roman Wilson on a sideline go route, but the quarterback overshot his target and the ball fell incomplete on the turf.
“I threw a ball I thought was going to hit the air, and it was 4 yards from Roman, so that’s a pretty good throw,” Rodgers said. “I’ve got to make that throw.”
Later, in the fourth quarter, Rodgers tried to connect with tight end Jonnu Smith in the end zone. However, Smith ran to the outside as Rodgers threw inside. Then the ball bounced incomplete.
“Jonnu and I weren’t on the same page,” Rodgers said. “I checked his in-breaker, and he ran an out-breaker. Jonnu is a true professional, so I’m sure he’s sick of this.”
Rodgers completed only 2 of 6 attempts of 10 yards or more, and he averaged 4.8 air yards per attempt as the offense spread the field more in the fourth quarter. At one point in the third, however, Rodgers was averaging negative-0.8 air yards per completion, according to ESPN Research, as five of his six completions were caught at or behind the line of scrimmage.
The conservative passing attack frustrated fans all day, and they responded by raining boos – including Rodgers’ name being announced when he re-entered the game after suffering a cut on his nose following Joey Bosa’s strip-sack. Rodgers said his uneasiness is understandable.
“I completely understand the frustration,” Rodgers said, adding that he hoped his nose wasn’t broken. “I’ve been teased on offense the last few years in Green Bay, too.
“That was a commendable performance.”
Steelers wide receiver Kelvin Austin III echoed his quarterback’s sentiments after the offense held only 166 yards, the third-fewest total in coach Mike Tomlin’s tenure.
“Yeah, we’re not meeting the standard,” Austin said of the crowd’s frustration. “This team has a standard that when it takes the field, the fans expect to see a certain thing, and it’s our duty to provide that. It’s as simple as that. As fans, they come here to cheer us on, but we’re not giving them anything to cheer on.”
By the fourth quarter, fans expressed their frustration at the coach by chanting “Fire Tomlin” so loudly that it was picked up on the CBS broadcast.
“Man, I share his frustration tonight,” Tomlin said with resignation. “We didn’t do enough, and that’s the reality of it.
“…I know how anxious and frustrated I was, and so I think they were in the same situation that we were in.”
Despite the team’s shortcomings and fan unrest, Rodgers expressed his support for Tomlin, whose historic streak of nearly two decades without a losing season is in jeopardy as the Steelers fall to 6–6.
“I have confidence in the coaching staff,” Rodgers said. “I believe in Mike Tomlin. That’s why I’m here. The players need to take accountability, including myself, and I will, and I’ll continue to do that. I have to play better, but we have 11 starters on offense, 11 on defense, as well as the personnel group that we run.
“We’re going to do something we can be really proud of, our best Monday to Saturday, and go out and play our best game and take control of the division.”
According to the quarterback, Rodgers’ desire to prepare for a strong week comes after a week of subpar work.
“I’m not sure if it was the cold weather or what it was, but it wasn’t our best week of practice,” Rodgers said. “It doesn’t always translate into negative performance. … We had to practice better in the elements, and the execution again wasn’t what it was.
“A lot of it is just the energy and pace of practice. We talked about it, and I thought Friday was better, but I thought Thursday wasn’t good for us for offensive speed execution practice.”
Edge rusher TJ Watt said his excitement about the defense has increased as he feels his unit remained “flat” on Sunday, giving up 249 rushing yards. According to ESPN Research, it is the most rushing yards accumulated by an opponent in Pittsburgh since the Bills’ 310 at Three Rivers Stadium on September 28, 1975. OJ Simpson led Buffalo with 227 rushing yards on the day.
“We need to find ways to be able to make plays,” Watt said. “And I mean I’ve never seen a team play as much as they played tonight and have as much success as they did. I don’t have words for it.”
Watt said: “We talk about the talent that we have, we talk about all the things that we have, but right now, we don’t have a strong defensive group, and that’s all I can talk about.”
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