Two teams that have been to the top of the mountain meet tonight to cap Week Eight Sunday play in the National Football League when the Pittsburgh Steelers host the Green Bay Packers. The contest also matches a pair of quarterbacks with history against each other.
Aaron Rodgers earned his Hall of Fame credentials while leading the Green Bay Packers to consistent division titles and one Super Bowl triumph … which was captured against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Roman Numeral XLV. Three years ago, the Packers made a break from their longtime star quarterback, and he went on to play in two disappointing seasons with the New York Jets. This year, Rodgers has regained some of his swagger with the Steelers.
In 2019, the Packers had a regular season record as good as any team in football, 13-3, unfortunately for them the San Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints also had 13 wins that year and it was San Francisco that got the tiebreaker elements to earn home field advantage in the playoffs. They parlayed that advantage to a win over the Packers in the NFC Championship Game.
It had become a familiar pattern for Green Bay with Rodgers running the show on the field. They were good enough to win their division and compete in the playoffs, but only once were the team that emerged from the NFC to represent their conference in the Super Bowl. It was as if they were just one player away, perhaps a defensive stud, to take them over the hill.
In 2020, Green Bay spent their first draft choice on Utah State Quarterback Jordan Love and Rodgers saw it as a double-slap in his face. The only position they could have drafted to not improve the team Rodgers was leading on the field was quarterback, and the future Hall of Fame enshrinee didn’t hide his disappointment on not getting someone to help his team now and apparently drafting for the future after Rodgers is done.
It created an icy situation in Green Bay that reached a climax when Rodgers was shipped to the Jets before the 2023 season. Love has since tried to maintain the level of excellence from Green Bay quarterbacks that for more than a decade featured Brett Farve and then transitioned to Rodgers in 2008 who moved into the starting role in his fourth year with the Packers. Love took over for Rodgers in his third professional campaign and is currently starting for Green Bay in a third season.