Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers left Acrisure Stadium with a win Sunday, yet the veteran quarterback spent a good chunk of his postgame remarks talking about flags that never flew.
The Steelers opened the Mike McCarthy era with a 20-13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1. It was a sloppy, penalty-filled afternoon that never quite looked like a statement win, even after the final whistle.
Rodgers finished 24 of 40 for 221 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions. The numbers were decent. The downfield connection he wanted with D.K. Metcalf never fully arrived.
Metcalf was targeted 10 times and came down with four catches for 40 yards. Rodgers said afterward that he has to do a better job finding his new No. 1 receiver. He also made it clear he thought officials missed several obvious fouls that would have helped.
“We had a lot of chances,” Rodgers said. “DK gets interfered with, they don’t call it. DK gets interfered with in the end zone, almost makes a heroic catch, they don’t call it. First third down of the game, DK in the slot, beats him, getting held, no call. It was interesting. There were a lot of flags, but some of those when we had a chance weren’t flags.”
Those three plays all involved Metcalf. Rodgers argued two were pass interference and one was a hold on an early third down. The missed calls, in his view, slowed Pittsburgh’s passing game against a Falcons defense that kept most of the action in front of it.
The Steelers still found enough scoring. Tight end Pat Freiermuth caught a six-yard touchdown from Rodgers in the second quarter. Kicker Chris Boswell added field goals of 43 and 28 yards. Then T.J. Watt took over.
Early in the fourth quarter, Watt leaped to intercept a Cooper Rush pass, landed, and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown. The score made it 20-10 and proved to be the difference. It was Watt’s 10th career interception and his first pick-six. He also had two sacks.
Atlanta stayed in the game behind Bijan Robinson, who ran for 183 yards on 21 carries and added 90 receiving yards. Rush, the Falcons’ third-string quarterback, completed 12 of 22 passes for 143 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
Rodgers and McCarthy were working together again for the first time since their Green Bay days ended after the 2018 season. The quarterback said he liked what he saw from the new staff even if the offense left plays on the field.
“I liked the plan from Mike,” Rodgers said. “I liked the play-calling. We took some shots. I felt like we had, really close to having one of those really good games. If we come down with a couple of those, it obviously looks a little different on the scoreboard and stat sheet and stuff, but love my guys, love DK.”
The game featured 16 accepted penalties, three fumbles and a handful of missed field goals. Former Packers pass rusher Za’Darius Smith, who came out of retirement to play for Atlanta, recorded both of the Falcons’ sacks.
Pittsburgh now turns to Week 2 against the New England Patriots. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, Sept. 20. Christian Gonzalez, one of the league’s better cornerbacks, is expected to spend much of that afternoon on Metcalf.
Rodgers put off retirement for one more season and now has a 1-0 start to show for it. The Steelers will need cleaner execution and, if he is to be believed, a few more flags in their favor if they want the next one to look prettier.
