It was for a moment just like this that the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Aaron Rodgers as a free agent in the offseason.
With their season on the line, the Steelers trailed the Baltimore Ravens 24-20 with 2:20 remaining in the de facto AFC North championship game on Sunday night. The Steelers had the ball at their 35-yard line after the Ravens had just pulled ahead, and Pittsburgh needed a touchdown to win the game, the division title, and to reach the playoffs.
Rodgers guided the Steelers 65 yards in six plays. The 42-year-old quarterback capped the drive by throwing the game-winning touchdown pass, a 26-yarder to Calvin Austin III down the left sideline, to put the Steelers ahead 26-24 with 55 seconds left. The Steelers then survived a missed 44-yard field goal attempt by Ravens rookie Tyler Loop as time expired at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh.
With their first division title in hand since 2020, the Steelers (10-7) host the Houston Texans (12-5) in an AFC Wild Card round playoff game next Monday night. The biggest reason, beyond Loop, that the Steelers will be participating in the playoffs is Rodgers, who threw for a season-high 294 yards and lived up to his four-time NFL MVP pedigree.
“I’ve admired him from afar for a long time,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “Good to do it with him. But, again, as I've said multiple times here in recent weeks, this was the vision in the spring when we pursued him. That's why you do business with a 42-year-old guy, been-there, done-that guy with a resume like his. He's not only capable, he thrives in it. I think he put that on display tonight.”
Rodgers showed the mettle of a 21-year veteran. He never lost his poise when the Steelers fell behind 10-0 in the second quarter and stayed calm in the game’s final moments.
“You want the ball in your hands with 2:20 left, and you get a touchdown,” Rodgers said. “That's exactly what you want. I was calm all day long with the gravity of the game and knowing what was in store for us. But I was confident that I was going to play a good game and that I could kind of be the magnetic force out there to keep guys confident and calm.
“Even in the two-minute (offense), we're good. We're going to go down and score, and don't worry about it, boys. That's part of it, being the old guy, having a lot of gray in your beard. They expect things from you, and it's nice to be able to deliver in moments like that.”
Rodgers is hoping to deliver some more big moments for a franchise that hasn’t won a playoff game since the 2016 season. Rodgers hasn’t played in a playoff game since 2021, the penultimate season of his 18 years with the Green Bay Packers.
“A lot of gratitude for the journey,” Rodgers said. “Every season is different. Has its challenges, adversity. We haven't made it easy on ourselves, really, all season, I guess. But I'm proud of our guys. It just takes a little belief at this point in the season. There are 14 teams that will be left. Eighteen will be planning their offseason. It's good to be part of the 14 after so many years.”