Aaron Rodgers' last three dates with prime-time football have all resulted in losses, but none looked as ugly as his latest.
It's a fact the 41-year-old quarterback readily admitted following Pittsburgh's 25-10 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday night in Inglewood, California.
"This was not my best performance," Rodgers said, via ESPN. "I got to play better than this for us to win. Whatever it takes ... if it's better checks, if it's better throws, whatever it is, I got to play better. I will. ... We got to play better on offense, for sure. But this is part of the season. There's ebbs and flows, there's ups and downs, and we can't ride the wave."
The Steelers offense never found a rhythm at SoFi Stadium, failing to convert a third down until the game was out of reach in the fourth quarter. Rodgers was uncharacteristically inconsistent as a passer, too, missing a handful of throws that could have turned the Steelers' fortunes.
"A lot of stuff wasn't working," Rodgers said. "We were bad on third down. I was just a little bit off. I missed DK (Metcalf) early. Could have been a big play. ... I missed some throws for sure. And then we weren't getting guys open ... times the guys were open, I missed some throws I usually make."
As the game progressed, it seemed as if the difficulty increased for the Steelers offense. When Rodgers intended to extend plays in order to find open targets, there were none to be had. Facing their best opportunity to finally find the end zone, Rodgers threw a line drive to Metcalf on fourth-and-goal from the Chargers' 10-yard line, a pass that had a 43.3% chance of being completed, per Next Gen Stats, but was broken up by cornerback Cam Hart, who blanketed Metcalf through the whistle.
Rodgers admitted afterward he noticed Metcalf was double-teamed, and he probably should have targeted the other side of the field. Such an attempt would have required additional time to survey before firing, though, and Rodgers had already learned he wasn't afforded such a luxury when he was sacked by Khalil Mack in his own end zone for a safety in the first quarter.
"I didn't really see anybody open, and I felt like when I stepped up, I saw Mack, and I didn't realize that he had kind of lost touch with Troy (Fautanu)," Rodgers said of the safety. "I should have thrown the ball on somebody's feet there."
Rodgers didn't shy from throwing at teammates' feet when necessary on a night in which he posted his worst completion percentage (51.6) in a game since Week 17 of the 2019 season. Mike Tomlin didn't avoid delivering an honest assessment of the entire offense's performance, either.
"We as an offensive collective were off today, and certainly, he's a component of that," Tomlin said. "I'll let him speak for himself, but we certainly got to be better. Didn't feel like they did anything unanticipated, but certainly, they outperformed us, particularly in possession-down play."
Sunday night's loss was the Steelers' third in their last four games, falling to 5-4. With Baltimore surging to three straight wins, the Steelers' once comfortable lead in the AFC North has dwindled to just one game with two meetings with Baltimore still ahead.
Both Tomlin and Rodgers understand there's little time to dwell on their latest defeat and plenty left to accomplish. They'll only reach their goals if they can figure out their offense.
"I'm not lacking confidence," Tomlin said. "I don't need a pat on the back. We stunk it up tonight. We'll be back."
