Quarterback Aaron Rodgers and head coach Mike McCarthy had a thing or two to say to each other during the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Thursday night loss to the Cleveland Browns.
During the first quarter, the game broadcast caught Rodgers yelling, “f—— call it,” with McCarthy appearing to fire back that his quarterback was a “f—— a——.”
What happened here?
“Communication, sometimes, is not the best choice of words, but everybody’s competing on the field. I think what’s said on the field, the way I grew up in this game, usually stays on the field. That’s not the case today,” McCarthy said in his postgame press conference when asked about the video of him and Rodgers cursing at each other. “I understand that. Any negative communication on my part, I wish I wouldn’t have used those words.”
Of course, McCarthy was Rodgers’ head coach on the Green Bay Packers from 2006-18 (Rodgers became Green Bay’s starting quarterback in 2008).
Pittsburgh began the AFC North road bout with conviction, forcing a Cleveland three-and-out to open the game and then putting together a 17-play, 9:48 touchdown drive. With that said, Rodgers was intercepted by Browns cornerback Denzel Ward on the Steelers’ next possession, and Cleveland went on to score 21 points in the second quarter and lead 21-10 at halftime.
Trailing by as many as 14 points with 1:22 remaining in the first half, Pittsburgh evened the score at 24-all with 1:48 remaining in the fourth quarter on a touchdown and successful two-point conversion. Then, quarterback Deshaun Watson and the Browns got into Steelers’ territory on the ensuing possession for kicker Andre Szmyt to make an eventual game-winning, 56-yard field goal with 10 seconds remaining.
Rodgers finished the 27-24 loss, which dropped Pittsburgh to 2-2, with 299 passing yards, three passing touchdowns, two interceptions and an 83.2 passer rating, while completing 55% of his passes (22 of 40). Granted, his second interception came on a de facto Hail Mary pass with one second remaining in the game. Rodgers was sacked five times.
Through four games, Rodgers has totaled 999 passing yards, seven passing touchdowns, four interceptions and an 81.6 passer rating, while completing 57.5% of his passes. He has been sacked an NFL-high 13 times. In all, Pittsburgh’s offense is 16th in the NFL in passing yards (223.0 per game) and total yards (317.8 per game), 22nd in rushing yards (94.8 per game) and 23rd in points (19.3 per game).
The Steelers host the Indianapolis Colts in Week 5 (Oct. 11 at 1 p.m. ET).
