PITTSBURGH — When the Pittsburgh Steelers regained possession, down 24-20, 2:20 remained in the game. Perhaps, fans in Acrisure Stadium wondered, 2:20 remained in the Steelers’ season and even in Aaron Rodgers’ career.
So the 42-year-old, four-time-MVP quarterback gathered his offense for a huddle. With three quick passes, they marched down to the Baltimore Ravens’ 26-yard line before Rodgers missed on two straight throws.
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Third-and-10 now threatened, with 1 minute to play. Rodgers began preparing receiver Calvin Austin III for a backside hitch-and-go route.
On the sideline, his teammates realized they were not worried.
“It was a weird, no-panic feeling,” edge rusher T.J. Watt said. “Just calm. It was just confident. We’ve seen him work a two-minute drill so many times. We’ve seen those ball-at-the-2-yard-line, seven-shot type plays so many times. Just complete confidence in him and the offense.
“He’s here for a reason. This is why he’s here. This is the best dude in the NFL for this moment.”
Rodgers validated that belief as he hit Austin for a go-ahead, 26-yard touchdown with 55 seconds to play. A 44-yard missed field goal by the Ravens helped buoy the Steelers to the 26-24 win, the AFC North crown and, most importantly, and another week of play. But even before then, at a series of intervals throughout the game, the Steelers believed their quarterback would help carry them to victory.
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“When I broke down [the huddle], I saw it was man to man, I had a good hope that the ball was going to come my way if I ran the route and executed,” Austin told Yahoo Sports from the postgame locker room. “Know it’s Cover 0, ball going to be up and down quick, so just get open and win.
“We’re just so blessed — to be able to continue to play and continue to give 8 [Rodgers] a season.”
The go-ahead touchdown to Austin was the last of Rodgers’ magic on a 31-of-47, 294-yard night featuring one passing touchdown and another 20 yards rushing.
Every ounce of it was needed to ward off a Lamar Jackson vintage performance to the tune of 171 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter alone.
But as the Steelers triumphed, delaying questions about the futures of Rodgers and head coach Mike Tomlin for at least eight more days, excitement was not their only reaction to hosting the Houston Texans in a Monday night wild-card game. Much of the team was also surprisingly even-keeled — resolute to work and prepare avidly, but managing their energy in the way their quarterback modeled through the night.
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“Sometimes in those intense moments, everyone can get pretty intense and loud and energetic,” receiver Adam Thielen told Yahoo Sports. “But he really has a calmness and a softness of how he calls the plays and just keeps everybody calm.”
Finding a quarterback of that demeanor for the Steelers is no accident. It was by design when Pittsburgh recruited Rodgers all last spring until he officially joined in June, and it’s by design that he’ll lead them into the playoffs.
“This was the vision in the spring when we pursued him,” Tomlin said. “That’s why you do business with a 41-, 42-year-old guy. Been-there, done-that guy with a résumé like his. He’s not only capable; he thrives in it.
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“I think he put that on display tonight.”
Rodgers led second-half rebound to edge Steelers past Ravens
Rodgers’ resilience shined most strongly in the second half.
The first half seemed shaky as Rodgers led an offense down top receiver DK Metcalf to suspension and big-bodied tight end Darnell Washington to a broken arm suffered a week prior.
Most of Rodgers’ completions were quick gains and screen passes that couldn’t pace Ravens running back Derrick Henry’s early explosions and 112-yard first half. And at times, glimmers of doubt surfaced about Rodgers’ future: When an early second-quarter pass to Jonnu Smith sailed high above the wide-open tight end, was Rodgers’ accuracy and timing slipping? A play later, Rodgers’ escaped the pocket to his right and tried to scramble. But his 42-year-old legs did not advance past the line of scrimmage before he was downed for a sack.
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The Steelers entered halftime trailing 10-3, a Watt interception-gifted short field not enough to convert in the red zone. But after halftime, Pittsburgh found a rhythm. Take the second-and-8 rope that Rodgers threaded to veteran receiver Thielen for 28 yards three minutes into the second half.
Thielen tried to move at the top of his route to counter tight coverage. The gain continued what would be a game-tying drive for the Steelers — and it also earned Thielen a reassuring gesture from Rodgers.
“Usually it’s a little look and a little point knowing that I made him proud,” Thielen told Yahoo Sports. “So I like those moments. I like when I see that face rather than the disappointed face.”
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Rodgers would warrant his own affirmation throughout a second half featuring six lead changes. The Steelers scored on a literal brotherly shove as Cam Heyward added to his defensive tackle responsibilities to help push his brother, Connor, into the end zone. Kenneth Gainwell scored around the right end of an immaculately blocked 2-yard score after Rodgers hit tight end Pat Freiermuth for 31 yards on third-and-8 up the middle. Rodgers had recommended Freiermuth fake his defender that he was breaking out before going down the middle, taking his time along the way. The tight end executed so in line with his quarterback’s high standards that Rodgers laughed.
“I’m literally throwing it kind of laughing to myself because I’m like, ‘This is it. See, I’ve been talking about it forever,’” Rodgers said. “Just little things that you talk about in Latrobe and you hope show up. … I’m just really proud of him.
“I can’t say enough good things about Pat.”
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Nor could Steelers teammates say enough good things about Rodgers after he helped them turn their end-of-year luck after a 10-7 season. The record was identical. But last year, the Steelers lost their final five games, including a wild-card exit.
Against the same Ravens team that dealt two of those five losses last year, including the playoff elimination, Pittsburgh secured a different result, including a sweep of Baltimore.
“Last year, the playoffs, going to Baltimore, we were really hurt by that,” Cam Heyward said. “I remember me and T.J. just sitting in the training room, just kind of scratching our heads.
“To get out here and play the same team, had some success in difference ways…
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“This is what we’ve all been waiting for.”
Texans are up next as Steelers players ‘want to be able to have some hardware’
Amid a postgame locker room cocktail of blaring music, cheers for top performers and pungent celebratory cigars, a group of Steelers players FaceTimed Metcalf.
The receiver wasn’t in the locker room receiving his “Been There, Won That” AFC North champion shirt. He wasn’t on the field when the Steelers’ offense could have used him against the Ravens on Sunday night, nor was he on the field when the Steelers’ offense could have used him in their Week 17 loss to the Cleveland Browns that blew their first chance to clinch the division.
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Metcalf had texted receivers Sunday morning, multiple players said, telling them they had the manpower they needed to win without him but he was nonetheless emotional he could not join as he served a two-game suspension from an in-game altercation with a Detroit Lions fan.
Rodgers wasn’t the only player this group longed to ensure saw another game this season in a Steelers uniform.
“We were playing so we could get DK back and we did,” Austin told Yahoo Sports. “He’s our leader. He’s our energy. He’s the guy.”
The Steelers have many “guys,” from Metcalf, who they will get back, to Watt whose interception was just one element of his several-pronged impact against the Ravens.
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They had a guy in a headset on their sideline coaching, too. Supporters emphasized that Tomlin’s 19 seasons at the Steelers helm do not include even one losing season. Critics will be intimately aware next week that nine years have elapsed since Pittsburgh last won a playoff game.
The Texans opened as 3-point favorites at Pittsburgh, per BetMGM.
There is a restlessness to change the history among players who have lived it.
Fifteen years into his Steelers tenure, Heyward did not put on his AFC North champions hat as his teammates did.
“I want a different hat,” he said. “Hopefully I have a chance to win a championship. … I want to be able to have some hardware one day.”
Heyward spoke of the doubt he believes the NFL world has in the Steelers’ chances. He spoke also of why the Steelers believe in their 42-year-old quarterback more than they think most would.
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“To have a guy that has seen every type of defense allows you to go into a lot of gunfights and feel like you have a chance,” Heyward said. “He’s able to steer the ship.”
Can Rodgers do it again next week? The Steelers know they were one 44-yard field goal attempt away from the frustration and devastation that Jackson instead described. They may have been a cornerback keeping his footing away from not scoring their final touchdown, and a concussion to star Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton away from the offensive uptick they experienced.
For now, they won’t question it.
“If my aunt has male parts, she would be my uncle,” Tomlin quipped in dismissing the value of hypotheticals.
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The Texans are riding a nine-game winning streak. Rodgers brought up that his lone Lombardi Trophy followed a 10-6 season that included a one-score divisional win in the regular-season finale. He’s not afraid of the odds against him, and his calm appears to be permeating the franchise.
“We were underdogs at home tonight against our division rival,” Rodgers said. “It’s going to give us some belief.
“The belief level in the locker room after a win like this is exponentially greater.”
