By about 8 p.m. Sunday night, Joe Haden’s love of Aaron Rodgers may be put to the test.
Haden, the Steelers’ top cornerback, sung highly the praises of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers following Pittsburgh’s practice on Wednesday.
“He’s still my favorite quarterback ever in the NFL,” Haden said. “His arm talent is unbelievable, the way he can throw the ball. He can move.
“When I say arm talent, it’s throwing receivers open, putting it in places that it’s like throwing darts. He’s a very, very, very special quarterback.”
Of course, Haden has played with. Another future Hall of Fame quarterback in Ben Roethlisberger for the last five years.
So, does he like Rodgers more than his teammate?
“Yes,” Haden said, in a quite matter of fact tone. “I love Ben to death, but I’m just being honest. Ben is definitely up there. But A-Rod, I like A-Rod more than Tom (Brady). I like him more than Patrick Mahomes. I just like A-Rod.”
It’s Rodgers’ pure throwing talent that has Haden smitten.
“It’s everything. It’s his release time, the flick of the wrist,” Haden said. “He can just effortlessly throw it 50 yards, 60 yards. The pinpoint accuracy, he knows where he wants to go.
His familiarity with his receivers, especially Davante (Adams). You can’t teach what Aaron’s got, with where he can place the ball.”
Haden is going to be tasked with trying to slow down Rodgers, Adams, and the Packers’ dynamic passing game on Sunday. While he admitted that the game plan is to not have him follow Adams around throughout the game, he’ll surely be lined up across from one of the game’s best wideouts plenty.
“(We have to) make sure we let everybody on the defense know where he’s at. He’s not just a ‘Joe, you go over there and good luck.’ Coach (Tomlin) said that in the meeting.
“He’s a tremendous player, and him playing with Aaron Rodgers for this long, they have a great chemistry together.”
Haden is optimistic that the Steelers will b able to welcome back some of their defensive standouts — like linebacker TJ Watt — who missed Sunday’s game against Cincinnati. He knows they’ll need all hands on deck to calm down Rodgers.
“You’ve just got to try to confuse him,” Haden said. “He’s been in the league for such a long time, you just can’t let him know what (defense) you’re in before the play starts, because he’ll tear you apart.”