AARON RODGERS
Quarterback
In terms of the big picture, the news figures to be that Aaron Rodgers' TD pass to Darnell Washington was the 540th of his career, which moved him past Peyton Manning for third place on the NFL's all-time list, behind only Tom Brady (649) and Drew Brees (571). That figures to be a focus of the first-ever NFL regular season game in France, but of more immediate concern for the Steelers was that they needed a win over the Saints to get to 5-2 with a rematch against the Browns coming up on Sunday at Acrisure Stadium to keep pace in the ultra-competitive AFC North.
Rodgers delivered there as well.
His stat line was: 19-of-30 (63.3 percent) for 217 yards, with 1 touchdown, 0 interceptions, and a rating of 95.4 yards. But that only tells part of his story in the Steelers 16-10 victory over the Saints. His completions accounted for 9 first downs and the team's only touchdown, and his 8-yard run on third-and-6 from the New Orleans 34-yard line with 2 minutes remaining set the stage for the eventual victory formation that punctuated the outcome.
Rodgers is the Steelers Player of the Week.
Also considered were Jaylen Warren, who rushed 18 times for 101 yards (5.6 average) and caught 3 passes for 36 yards (12.0 average) to finish with 21 touches for 137 yards from scrimmage; Rico Dowdle, who rushed 9 times for 41 yards (4.6 average) and caught 6 passes for 45 yards (7.5 average) to finish with 15 touches for 86 yards; Payton Wilson, who had 6 tackles and a third-quarter interception at the Steelers 11-yard line that sabotaged a Saints scoring drive; Patrick Queen, who had 10 tackles, including 1 for loss, a pass defensed, and a sack in the final with 6:41 left in the fourth quarter that forced a New Orleans punt; Chris Boswell, who kicked FGs of 28, 47, and 39 yards without a miss; and Travis Homer, who had 3 tackles on special teams.
