INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers’ tenure with the Pittsburgh Steelers began on a high note with four wins in five games to start the season.
Since then, however, the 41-year-old quarterback’s performance has gotten progressively worse and worse as the Steelers have lost three of four.
Rodgers went 16 of 31 for 161 yards with a touchdown, two interceptions and a fumble in Pittsburgh’s 25-10 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday night. He was sacked three times, took a safety and finished with a 50.6 passer rating, his lowest mark of the season.
“I didn’t play very good at all,'” Rodgers said. “I gotta play better. We’ve got four division games left. It’s a long season.”
It was the third straight week Rodgers’ passing yards and QB rating declined from the previous game.
With Rodgers struggling, the Steelers were just 2 for 11 on third down and trailed by as many as 22 points before scoring a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
When asked to assess Rodgers’ performance, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin snapped, “How would you? Next (question).”
Rodgers’ troubles began almost immediately.
While attempting to evade pressure near the goal line in the first quarter, he fumbled the ball in his own end zone and fell on it for a safety while being pulled down by Khalil Mack, giving the Chargers their first points of the game.
“I didn’t really see anybody open,” Rodgers said. “I felt like when I stepped up, I saw Mack, and I didn’t realize that he had kind of lost touch with (right tackle) Troy (Fautanu).”
Late in the second quarter, he overthrew DK Metcalf cutting across the middle for an interception into the arms of Chargers safety RJ Mickens. Two minutes later, the Chargers converted the turnover into points when Justin Herbert hit Ladd McConkey on a 15-yard score send the Chargers into halftime with a 12-3 lead.
The second half brought little relief. Rodgers completed just one pass in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, with the Steelers at the Chargers 10-yard line and threatening to score, Rodgers threw three straight incompletions – including an off-target, fourth-down throw to a blanketed Metcalf in the corner of the end zone – to end the drive empty-handed.
“I probably should’ve thrown to the other side,” Rodgers said. “He was doubled. I was trying to throw back shoulder. I should’ve worked the other side.”
Rodgers’ second and final interception came on the Steelers’ ensuing drive when his pass slipped through wide receiver Calvin Austin’s hands and deflected right to Chargers cornerback Donte Jackson.
With Rodgers turning the ball over and the offense continually unable to convert on third down, the Steelers’ defense was left to pay the price. The Chargers’ time of possession was 37:35, compared to 22:25 for the Steelers.
“Just on the grass too long,” Tomlin said. “We didn’t convert on third downs, the time of possession was what it was. Collectives and individuals wear down when you’re not standing up.”
Rodgers’ lone touchdown pass, a 27-yard catch-and-run by Roman Wilson, came in the final minutes with the Steelers trailing by three possessions and the outcome long decided.
The Steelers are now 5-4, just one game ahead of the Baltimore Ravens for first place in the NFC North.
“We gotta play better on offense for sure,” Rodgers said. “But this is part of the season, there’s ebbs and flows and ups and downs. We can’t ride the wave. It starts with me.”
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