Written by Joe Starkey
The Pittsburgh Gazette
Pittsburgh The matter is already delicate. Listening to Aaron Rodgers and his offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith, earlier this month made it clear.
With games being decided in the final seconds before the snap, how much latitude will Rodgers have at the line of scrimmage? In general, how much freedom will Rodgers have?
The Steelers’ recent history with future Hall of Fame quarterbacks and, perhaps more importantly, their recent terrible offensive record make it a problem.
First, despite the fact that Ben Roethlisberger was a late-career and his coordinator was Mike Tomlin’s hand-picked catastrophe, Matt Canada, who had never called plays in the NFL, Tomlin somehow felt it was best to keep him at the line.
That year (2021), Roethlisberger was at his finest when he winged it and flushed Canada’s playbook down the toilet, generally after the Steelers had fallen behind. That has a lot of documentation.
(It is nothing short of a miracle that Roethlisberger, despite working with Canada and playing behind an overmatched rookie center, passed for 22 touchdowns and led his team to the playoffs in his final season here.)
Next up was Mr. Unlimited, Russell Wilson, who supposedly had very little ability to alter plays at the line as the previous season went on. Additionally, Wilson and Smith put on a pleasant front, but throughout the last month and a half, there was obviously professional tension and a horrible offense.
Here comes Rodgers, a four-time MVP who briefly tried his hand at general management and coaching during his disastrous time in New York. He’s not a wallflower, exactly. It will be interesting to follow his collaboration with Smith.
Of course, everything is fine now. June is always a fantastic month. When Mike Sullivan and Erik Karlsson first started playing games, their friendship was fantastic.
The Rodgers-Smith marriage won’t end, I’m not saying. In comparison to Wilson-Smith last season, it might be a much better fit. However, you might wish to prepare your popcorn.
On Tuesday, it was questioned if Rodgers would feel comfortable taking over whenever he felt like it. The question appeared reasonable, and it would seem wise to allow Rodgers to answer it. If you don’t give him the reins, why bring him in?
The question didn’t appeal to him.
Rodgers remarked, “Take over when I see fit. I don’t understand that last term.” Over the years, I’ve made a few two-minute calls. However, it is just incorrect to assume that I must play outside of an attacking system or that I have done so for the most of my career.
Well, that wasn’t said. Will you feel compelled to step in and take charge occasionally? Let’s not pretend that Rodgers hasn’t occasionally done that—as he should, once again.
Former tight end for the Packers When comparing Steelers tight ends, Rodgers praised Marcedes Lewis. A few years ago, Darnell Washington told him about a noteworthy incident that happened on a Yahoo! Sports show.
Lewis claimed that Rodgers disregarded coach Mike McCarthy’s play call while he was in the huddle.
I suppose Aaron was thinking, “Nope,” when McCarthy called in a play, Lewis remarked. After giving the line instructions and protection, he left. He launched a 40-yard bomb for a completion during the four-minute offensive opportunity. I ask myself, what’s actually happening? That is unlike anything I have ever seen in my life.
Smith told reporters, “I know that’s a hot-button issue here,” as if he didn’t enjoy bringing up the subject either. Ben and I never had the honor of working together. He spent a lot of time here. He plays the gold jacket. I don’t know how he accomplished it. I’m not familiar with the background of the fanciful story in which they were simply calling plays at the line. All I know is what we did in 2024 in Pittsburgh.
It wasn’t much, yes. And that’s what this is really about. If the Steelers can finally have a capable, explosive attack, no one will care how much authority the quarterback has. Since 2018, their offensive has not finished in the top ten.
Smith hasn t had a top-10 scoring offense since he had Michael Jordan a.k.a Derrick Henry in his backfield. In Tennessee, Smith’s offense finished fourth and tenth in those two seasons. Without Henry meaning, three years as Falcons head coach and last season as Steelers coordinator Smith s offenses rank 26th, 15th, 26th and 16th.
What s more, the Steelers failed to score a first-drive touchdown all season, were awful in the red zone, were awful on first down, and mostly awful in short yardage. The offense no-showed in the first half of the playoff game in Baltimore and for the first time since the 1-13 team of 1969 went five straight games without eclipsing 17 points.
Despite this, we hear of Smith’s excellent performance. It’s confusing.
I m going to learn the offense, and Arthur and I are going to talk a bunch this summer, Rodgers told reporters. If there s things that I like that I d like to see in the offense, Arthur, I m sure, is going to put it in. He knows how to call a game. I know how to get us in the right spot based on what s called. There s two or three plays called in the huddle sometimes. My job is to get us in the right play.
That sounds simple enough but the games don t start till September.
