Aaron Rodgers owns the missed tackles in SNF’s brutal loss to the Chargers

The Pittsburgh Steelers‘ offensive woes under the spotlight continued Sunday night at quarterback Aaron Rodgers came through in a 25-10 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium.

Approaching his 42nd birthday, Rodgers finished 16-of-31 for 161 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions and a 50.6 passer rating, his lowest of the season. Rodgers’ 51.6% completion rate was his worst since 2020, and his 50.6 passer rating is the fifth-lowest of his career in the entire game. He admitted after the game that a few throws went wrongsaying:

“A lot of things didn’t work. We were bad on third down. I was a little behind, I missed DK (Metcalf) early, it could have been a big play. A little high for Jonnu (Smith). But yeah, in the first half, we didn’t run the ball super efficiently. I missed, obviously, some throws, for sure. And then we guys were able to connect. I was open, I missed the throws that I usually make.

“Our defense played really well tonight. Offensively, we were pretty bad. So we’ve got to find a way to open up the third ball, I’ve got to find a way to hit them, because it was just a bad ball.”

Pittsburgh opened the night with early energy, with Chris Boswell making a 59-yard field goal, his 50th career 50+ yard kick in 60 attempts, to give the Steelers a 3-0 lead early in the first quarter.

However, control of the game changed when Rodgers fumbled in the end zone on third-and-7 from the Pittsburgh 9-yard line. Khalil Mack recovered in the end zone for a safety, cutting the Steelers’ lead to 3-2.

The first half was a nightmare for Pittsburgh’s offense. Rodgers completed just 7 of 14 passes for 64 yards with one interception. The interception came when Rodgers overthrew DK Metcalf, which led to a RJ Mickens pick that set up Justin Herbert for a 15-yard touchdown pass to Led McConkey just before halftime.

The Steelers entered halftime with just 85 yards, three first downs and 0-for-6 on third downs.

Pittsburgh rallied momentarily in the fourth quarter with Jaylen Warren’s 18-yard screen pass to the LA 14-yard line, but the drive stalled. Rodgers missed a checkdown to Kenneth Gainwell, then threw incompletions to Metcalf in double coverage, leading to a turnover on downs.

The Chargers took advantage immediately, with McConkey catching a 58-yard pass and Kimani Vidal running in for a 2-yard touchdown, making sure the Steelers couldn’t catch up. Vidal finished with 95 yards and a touchdown, while Herbert completed 20 of 33 passes for 220 yards and a score.

Warren rushed efficiently for 70 yards on 14 carries (5.0 yards per attempt), yet Pittsburgh went 0-for-9 on third downs, a deciding factor in the loss.

The Black and Gold defense was effective, Patrick Quinn recorded 12 tackles and Alex Highsmith contributed with two tackles.

The Steelers, now 4-5, host the Cincinnati Bengals next week in Week 11.