Aaron Rodgers is seemingly in the twilight of his career. The Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback turned 42 earlier this month and is in his 21st season in the NFL.
However, Rodgers is playing better in the latter stages of the season, seemingly getting stronger despite his age. The Steelers are on a three-game winning streak, and Rodgers has completed 73 of 102 passes for 774 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions in that span.
The Steelers (9-6) have built a two-game lead over the Baltimore Ravens (7-8) in the AFC North. The Steelers can win their first division title if they beat the Browns (3-12) on Sunday in Cleveland or the Ravens lose to the Packers (9-5-1) on Saturday night in Green Bay.
While most players dread playing in cold weather in December, Rodgers embraces it, having also played in Green Bay and New York before joining the Steelers in the offseason.
"The last five or six years, I've kind of Benjamin Button-ed this thing, compared to some of the other guys, where guys just kind of hanging on," Rodgers said. "For whatever reason, I feel I get stronger as the season goes on. I think part of that is the cold weather. I always say the cold weather slows everybody else but me down, so I'm going normal speed and it's slightly faster than the other guys who are slowed down by a field or the cold or whatever.”
Almost lost in Rodgers’ strong late-season play is that he has been playing with a broken left wrist. He sustained the injury on Nov. 16 in a win over the Cincinnati Bengals and missed one game.
"The wrist is still healing, but everything else feels really good,” Rodgers said.
Rodgers and the Steelers will be without wide receiver DK Metcalf after he was suspended for two games by the NFL after an altercation with a fan during a win over the Lions last Sunday in Detroit.
Metcalf is second on the team in receptions with 59. He has 850 receiving yards and six touchdowns. However, Rodgers is confident the Steelers can compensate for Metcalf’s absence.
"Obviously DK has drawn a lot of attention all season long," Rodgers said. "There've been a lot of doubles on him, so it's given other guys opportunities. When there've been one-on-ones with DK, we've made a lot of plays, so we'll have to have a few other people stepping up."