Aaron Rodgers defying Father Time in leading Steelers to the top of the standings

PITTSBURGH — It was vintage Aaron Rodgers in Cincinnati last Thursday night, right down to the final play. No one in NFL history has completed more Hail Mary passes than Rodgers, and he almost did it again.

On a night Rodgers threw four more touchdowns to continue his turn-back-the-clock season with the Steelers, his best throw of the game was the 69.8-yard missile that was batted down in the end zone by Bengals defenders as time ran out.

"That was crazy," Steelers tight end Connor Heyward said. "We were all on the sidelines and like, 'Damn, it got there.' "

It was the longest throw in the NFL since at least 2017, according to Next Gen Stats. And he did it 47 days shy of his 42nd birthday.

Rodgers might have been the only person in the stadium who wasn't surprised at the distance and accuracy of the throw. In fact, he threw it exactly where he wanted.

Had it been completed, Rodgers might have ranked it higher than his best throw ever, which he said was the Hail Mary completion to Richard Rodgers in a 2015 game in Detroit. In Green Bay, it's called the Miracle in Motown.

"The best throw of my life was the 2015 Hail Mary," Rodgers said earlier this week. "That one didn't go as far, but it went way higher. It was in the rafters up there at Ford Field."

Then, as he continued his answer, you could see Rodgers' mind shift. Here he was talking about a throw that wasn't completed, on a play that wasn't properly executed, in a game that wasn't won.

The very name of the play suggests the outcome predominantly lies in luck — a wing and a prayer. But for Rodgers, there isn't a play in the game that doesn't have detailed design.

This was a teaching moment for Rodgers.

"The ball came off good," Rodgers continued. "I thought we had a chance. I thought we had to be a little tighter on those end-of-game situations because I'm trying to throw the ball two yards deep into the end zone on the numbers on that play. We weren't all in the right spot at the right time. We have to be on the same page in those crunch-time situations. You might only get them one or two times a season, and you have to be perfect."

That's vintage Rodgers, too. He's constantly challenging his teammates to be perfect.

As the Steelers enter Sunday night's game against his old team at 4-2 and on top of the AFC North standings, there are visions of what Rodgers used to do and hope for what he can still bring.

What's in a number?

Rodgers will turn 42 on Dec. 2 and is flashing everything this season that made him an iconic figure in Green Bay during his 18 seasons with the Packers. He will go down as one of the top quarterbacks of all time whenever he decides to retire. He's a four-time NFL MVP and led the Packers to a victory over the Steelers in Super Bowl XLV. He's among the top five quarterbacks ever in passing yards and touchdowns.

But there was major doubt in NFL circles that Rodgers could still play after the New York Jets unceremoniously released him after two forgettable seasons. His first season with the Jets in 2023 ended in Week 1 when he suffered a season-ending Achilles injury. And last season was a disaster. The Jets finished 5-12 and the New York tabloids had a field day with a season that was filled with drama.

Rodgers wasn't going out like that, and Mike Tomlin was still a believer. Maybe it was because Tomlin always had an infinite amount of respect for Rodgers after he beat the Steelers in that Super Bowl. Or maybe it was because the Steelers had been in quarterback hell since Ben Roethlisberger's retirement in 2021.

Tomlin's bet on Rodgers is paying off. Entering Sunday's prime-time matchup against the Packers, Rodgers is on pace for one of the best seasons ever by a quarterback over 40. He has 14 touchdown passes, the fourth-most in the NFL, and he's played one fewer game than the three quarterbacks ahead of him. He is on pace to throw 40 touchdown passes, which would shatter the franchise record that Roethlisberger set in 2018 when he threw 34 touchdowns in 16 games.

Rodgers has been incredibly efficient as a passer, as well. His 105 quarterback rating is on pace to be his best since he had a 111.9 rating in 2021, the season he won his fourth NFL MVP with the Packers.

"He's playing at an extremely high level," said NBC analyst Tony Dungy, the former Colts and Buccaneers head coach. "I thought he would play well, but I wasn't expecting this. I knew we would see the quick decisions, the accuracy. What I wasn't expecting to see was the mobility. That's been the added spice."

Rodgers' mobility was on full display in the 33-31 loss to Cincinnati. On his first touchdown pass of the game, he evaded the rush and rolled all the way across the field to find Jonnu Smith in the end zone. On the 68-yard touchdown pass to Pat Freiermuth late in the fourth quarter, he eluded a Bengals defender and threw a dime on the run, 40 yards in the air no less, to put the Steelers ahead.

"He looked really comfortable back there," said Don Barclay, the head football coach at Seneca Valley High School who was Rodgers' right tackle in Green Bay from 2012-17. "He looked like the Aaron Rodgers I played with every year I was there. He moved around. That's him. That's his game."

Tom Brady won his seventh Super Bowl at 43. He set his career highs for passing yards and touchdowns in a season at 44 before retiring when he was 45 following the 2022 season. Drew Brees retired at 42 shortly after he led the Saints to an NFC South division title. Joe Flacco, the quarterback who out-dueled Rodgers last week, is 40 and still going strong for the Bengals.

"There is so much value when you have these guys who have experience and have seen every coverage for years and years," said Andrew Brandt, a front office executive with the Packers from 1999-2008 who is now the executive director of the Moorad Center for the study of sports law at Villanova University. "I'm doing some NIL consulting now, and everyone is looking for quarterbacks who have played. Some of these guys are in their fifth or sixth years in college. It's kind of the same thing in the NFL. There is such value with experience."

Rodgers signed a one-year contract with the Steelers in June. He said then this was likely his final season in the NFL. But his play in September and October has many in NFL circles believing Rodgers could return for another season with the Steelers in 2026.

"He's probably thinking the perfect way to go out would be to win a Super Bowl this year, but there is no question in my mind watching him play this year that he could come back next year," Dungy said.

15 and counting

James Farrior has two Super Bowl rings from his days as the captain of those strong Steelers defenses in the 2000s. The victories in Super Bowl XL and Super Bowl XLIII are special to him, but the night in Dallas when he was denied a third title has left more of a lasting impression.

"I think more about that game than I do the other two," Farrior said.

That was the night a young Aaron Rodgers earned Super Bowl XLV MVP and led the Packers to a 31-25 win over the Steelers. It was only the second time in franchise history the Steelers lost a Super Bowl, and it denied the city a seventh Lombardi Trophy.

When Farrior turns on the TV to watch the Steelers now, he sees the face that comes in his nightmares. Only now he's rooting for him.

Much is possible in this era of NFL free agency, but Rodgers is the only quarterback in league history to play for a team he beat in a Super Bowl.

"The way I look at it, I want him to get another Super Bowl for us this year, and that will make up for the one in 2010 that we didn't get," Farrior said.

What Farrior remembers most about that game is how often Rodgers dropped back to pass. The Packers only attempted 13 runs all game, and two of those were Rodgers scrambles.

Farrior and the rest of that ferocious Steelers defense were helpless as Rodgers completed 24 of his 39 passes for 304 yards and three touchdowns.

"I don't think I was ever in a game like that," Farrior said. "They didn't even try to run the ball. Our mindset always was to make a team one-dimensional. They had a great game plan, and they executed it."

Rodgers is the only player from either team who is still playing in the league. Tomlin, of course, is still coaching.

Neither has made it back to the Super Bowl. They have combined for 18 playoff appearances since then. Now, as the Western Pennsylvania nights turn colder, they are huddled together, pinning their hopes on each other for one more shot at NFL glory.