The Pittsburgh Steelers took care of business in Week 1, as they picked up a 20-13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday afternoon. It wasn’t necessarily pretty, but Aaron Rodgers and company managed to do just enough to sneak past a Falcons team that was being led by third-string quarterback Cooper Rush.
All in all, Rodgers had a decent day under center (24/40, 221 YDS, 1 TD), but it felt like he struggled to consistently connect with guys down the field, particularly star wide receiver DK Metcalf. After the game, Rodgers admitted he has to do a better job at finding Metcalf, but he also took a second to bash the referees for failing to throw the flag on what he felt were some obvious penalties.
Aaron Rodgers Calls Out the Refs After Steelers’ Victory Over Falcons
Rodgers opted to put off retirement for one more year to return and lead the Steelers under center. Over the offseason, Pittsburgh focused on making his life easier, which led to Mike McCarthy being hired as its new head coach, and guys like Michael Pittman Jr. and Rico Dowdle being brought to town.
Against the Falcons’ tough defense, it was clear that Rodgers and the rest of the offense were still working through some things. It wasn’t totally surprising to see veteran tight end Pat Freiermuth be his top target on the day, simply because Rodgers has experience playing with him already.
It could have been an even bigger day for the Steelers’ offense if the referees had done their job, though, according to Rodgers. When speaking to reporters after the game, Rodgers immediately recalled three plays involving Metcalf that he believes should have been called penalties, but they weren’t, which slowed down Pittsburgh’s passing attack.
“We had a lot of chances,” Rodgers said. “DK gets interfered with, they don’t call it. DK gets interfered with in the end zone, almost makes a heroic catch, they don’t call it. First third down of the game, DK in the slot, beats him, getting held, no call. It was interesting. There were a lot of flags, but some of those when we had a chance weren’t flags.”
Aaron Rodgers, Steelers Turn Their Attention to Week 2
The referees obviously aren’t solely to blame for the Steelers’ less-than-stellar aerial attack, but Rodgers believes that it certainly played a role in how the game unfolded. In a way, it’s a positive that Pittsburgh was able to overcome this adversity, but there’s also no hiding from the fact that this group will need to be better moving forward.
That will start in Week 2, where a challenging matchup against the New England Patriots awaits. The Pats feature one of the top cornerbacks in the league, Christian Gonzalez, who will likely spend much of his time shadowing Metcalf, so that may make it tougher for him to have a bounce-back game. Kickoff for this game is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, Sep. 20.
Aaron Rodgers Bashes Refs After Steelers’ Week 1 Win vs. Falcons