I thought Aaron Rodgers was cooked coming into the 2026 season, and his performances in the first two weeks did little to change my mind.
In my Week 2 takeaways column, I described him as “an old quarterback whose career probably should have ended three years ago.”
Yeah, so, that assessment could use an update.
The 42-year-old threw three touchdown passes Sunday as the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Indianapolis Colts, 34-22, to improve to 3-2. Rodgers finished with 235 passing yards and has now thrown three touchdowns in three consecutive games.
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Over that stretch, he’s passed for 826 yards and nine touchdowns. That’s pretty good production for anyone, let alone a quarterback who is likely playing in his final NFL season.
For comparison, Rodgers had more turnovers (2) than touchdown passes (1) in the first two games.
Now, he’s still averaging one turnover per game after throwing three interceptions in the past three games, so he has to clean that up.
He didn’t turn the ball over Sunday, though, showing he’s still got some football left in that 42-year-old right arm.
The encouraging part for Pittsburgh is that Rodgers is giving the offense something to build on each week.
Sunday’s opening possession went backward, costing the Steelers 15 yards before they punted. But Rodgers responded quickly. On Pittsburgh’s next possession, he got the ball to Jaylen Warren just before taking a hit from defensive tackle Grover Stewart, and Warren turned the short completion into an 80-yard touchdown.
Rodgers went on to complete his first 11 passes and didn’t have an incompletion until midway through the second quarter.
Of course, Warren deserves plenty of credit for making his quarterback’s numbers look better. He finished with 188 yards from scrimmage and added a 50-yard touchdown run to go with the long receiving score. That’s a pretty productive afternoon.
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But Rodgers also delivered when Pittsburgh needed to put some distance between itself and Indianapolis.
With the Steelers leading 24-22 in the fourth quarter, Rodgers found Pat Freiermuth for a 17-yard touchdown on third-and-6. It was Freiermuth’s second touchdown catch of the afternoon and basically locked up the victory.
There were a couple of historical accomplishments mixed in, too.
The touchdown pass to Warren moved Rodgers ahead of Peyton Manning for third in career touchdown passes, including the postseason. Only Tom Brady and Drew Brees remain ahead of him.
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The victory also gave Rodgers 166 regular-season wins as a starting quarterback, moving him past Ben Roethlisberger into fifth place all time. Passing a Steelers legend while wearing a Steelers uniform is a nice bonus.
The career accomplishments are impressive, obviously. But Steelers fans have a more immediate interest in whether Rodgers can keep playing like this.
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Pittsburgh needs an offense that can take advantage when its defense gets stops, finish drives with touchdowns and deliver a big play when a game gets uncomfortable. Rodgers and Warren gave the Steelers all of that against Indianapolis.
There’s still plenty of season left, and three good games don’t settle every question about this team. They’re also in the very competitive AFC North, where all four teams have three wins already.
The upcoming schedule provides an opportunity for Rodgers and the Steelers to keep rolling. Pittsburgh plays at Tampa Bay in Week 6 and then faces New Orleans in Paris. The Buccaneers and Saints are a combined 2-8.
After that comes a pair of crucial division games against the Browns and Bengals with a bye week in between. It remains to be seen if Rodgers can keep up this level of production as the season wears on.
But after throwing nine touchdown passes in three games? Yeah, I probably buried Rodgers a little too soon.