PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Steelers defense attempting to do things Sunday that don't happen to Green Bay. How can they get Aaron Rodgers to turn it over and how can they get Rodgers on the ground?
"It speaks to Aaron Rodgers; this guy operates with great fluidity," said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. "He takes care of the ball. He makes good and quick decisions and has for an extremely long time."
Rodgers once threw double-digit interceptions, back in 2010 when he threw 11. Last season Rodgers threw 48 touchdown passes and five interceptions. In his career against the Steelers, which is two games, Rodgers has six touchdowns and one pick. Three of those touchdowns came earning Super Bowl MVP in Dallas a decade ago.
"Make him feel uncertain and maybe intercept the ball from him," said Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler. "We need some interceptions. That will do a lot of things to the mind of a quarterback."
Rodgers' mind may be the sharpest in the NFL. Butler acknowledged the 37-year-old quarterback never seems to make the same mistake twice. That's why he's playing at this level at this age.
"That's the reason Aaron has stayed around," Butler said. "He reads defenses very well. He knows how to play the snap count. A veteran guy like that is very tough to play against."
"With a seasoned quarterback," said Steelers defensive captain Cam Heyward. "He's thinking the game a little more. Understanding what a defense is giving to him. He's not necessarily reading, but he knows what he's going to get on a particular play."
"He rolls out opposite most quarterbacks. We need to make sure we are ready. Most defenses aren't used to that. He likes to do things a little bit different and we need to make sure we are taking care of business."
"He's got a lot of eligibles to work with: Davante Adams, obviously, is the first one that comes to mind," Tomlin said. "A guy like him coupled with a quarterback relationship like that, you're working your tail off just to kind of minimize it in those moments."
"To think that you're going to deny him is probably not realistic. We've got to minimize his impact on the game. I often use that term when I'm talking about quarterback-receiver relationships. It's not eliminating, it's minimizing. And particularly in those weighty moments, it's important."
Those weighty downs have been an issue recently. Heyward saying there were too many third and short situations in the last few games. They need to be better on first and second down. If they do, they could potentially put some heat on Rodgers and at least stop drives, if not get turnovers.
It wasn't there against Cincinnati without TJ Watt, Stephon Tuitt and Alex Highsmith. Last week broke a streak of 95 straight games the Steelers had at least one sack.
Rodgers has been better with age of avoiding pressure, but he is getable. Sacked five times in three games. Dropped 473 times in his career.
"What we got to do is put pressure on the quarterback," Butler said. "You got to have pressure on the quarterback. You got to be able to do it with four men and not five and six men all the time. We got to be able to disguise coverages. All that stuff does hand-in-hand."
"It's not just going to take the defense, it's going to take the offense going out and getting seven points every time," Heyward said. "Special teams putting them in long yardage and creating splash off of that. Then we have to make the plays we are supposed to on defense-sacks, turnovers."
"They don't have a lot of turnovers. When you do get 'em, you got to make sure you seize those opportunities."
"It's time to bounce back. We've been in both of these games and it's come down to execution errors and mistakes on our end. Let's see if we can learn from it. Let's see if we can get a W this week."
