Aaron Rodgers Blasted by NFL Exec, 'He's 42, Can't Do It Anymore' After Steelers' Loss to Patriots

One rival executive felt vindicated after watching the Pittsburgh Steelers and quarterback Aaron Rodgers slump to a 20-3 defeat at the hands of the New England Patriots.

"What did you expect?" the exec told The Athletic's Mike Sando . "He's 42, can't do it anymore. Never thought that would work, anyway."

Rodgers went 23-of-39 for 187 yards and one touchdown in Week 2, and he got sacked four times for a combined loss of 43 yards.

Coach Mike McCarthy said the performance "starts with me."

"We've got to give Aaron better platforms to throw off of," he told reporters. "I don't want to dink and dunk all day and play keep-away football. There's a place for that, maybe situationally, but that's not the philosophy."

Rodgers' postgame assessment was considered by some to be a little cryptic.

"The best teams are player-led teams," the four-time MVP said.

Expanding on that, Rodgers stressed the need to alert McCarthy to "what's working, what's not working." That didn't exactly come off as a ringing endorsement of Pittsburgh's offensive scheme Sunday.

Everyone could see the risk in the Steelers sticking with Rodgers as the starter for another year.

His 3,322 passing yards in 2025 were his fewest over a full season, and his 6.7 yards per attempt tied a career low. His limitations in the pocket were laid bare in an AFC Wild Card Round loss to the Houston Texans.

Reuniting Rodgers with McCarthy, his coach for 13 years on the Green Bay Packers, raised the possibility he could find a formula to be more effective.

Two games in, that hasn't been the case, and Sando presented some worrying stats: "This is the worst Steelers team this century through two games in EPA per pass play; second-worst in EPA per play; and third-worst in success rate."

Maybe Pittsburgh can mount another playoff challenge. If that happens, it may be in spite of the team's quarterback play rather than because of it.