FOXBOROUGH - Over the last couple of seasons, no quarterback has wanted to get the ball out of their hand faster than Aaron Rodgers. In fact, in 2025 - his first with the Steelers - Rodgers’ average time to throw was 2.46 seconds, the quickest in the league. Not only that, but because the now-42-year-old signal caller never wanted to get hit, his aDOT (average depth of target) was also the lowest (6.6).
Those changed pretty dramatically in a season-opening win over the Falcons. Under new head coach Mike McCarthy, who, of course, coached Rodgers for years in Green Bay, the veteran signal-caller held the ball an average of 2.84 seconds and had an aDOT of 10.1 yards. Is he a changed man?
“They took a couple shots,” Milton Williams observed. “But he’s trying to do whatever, whatever is open, whatever is gonna help them move the chains. You know, deep pass, short pass. He can do it all. We just gotta be on the same page. Try to take away some of those reads, and affect the quarterback to help create turnovers.”
I did wonder if some of Rodgers’ willingness to stand in there may have had to do with the opponent. The film backed up that premise. The Falcons were without their top two edge rushers and relied on recently signed ZaDarius Smith to provide some juice in that department. He did, with a pair of sacks, but those were the only two times Rodgers went down. Pressure was at a minimum.
Meanwhile, the Pats continued to lean into