Daily Norseman
It is, once again, time for us to sit down with the good folks from the SB Nation NFL blog that covers the team that our Minnesota Vikings will be facing off against.
With the Vikings heading over to Dublin, Ireland to face off with the Pittsburgh Steelers, that means that we get to talk with the guys from Behind the Steel Curtain. I exchanged questions with Ryland Bickley, the assistant editor of BtSC, and I’ll provide his answers to the questions I posed to him below. You can see my answers to his question over on their side.
1) This offseason, the rumors were rampant (and irresponsible, but that’s a separate discussion) that Aaron Rodgers really wanted to come play for Minnesota in 2025, but he now finds himself at the helm in Pittsburgh instead. What are your impressions of the Vikings’ old nemesis through the first three weeks of this season?
He’s looked alright. He’s definitely no longer the player Vikings fans remember facing when Rodgers was a Packer, but I’d argue the future Hall of Famer has already shown he’s the best quarterback Pittsburgh has seen since Ben Roethlisberger.
Rodgers’ Steelers career started with a flashy four-touchdown stat line against the Jets in Week 1, but it was a gameplan and matchup that succeeded with receivers wide open off of play action and short passes with yards after catch opportunities. Rodgers was great in that game, but since then, it hasn’t been as easy, and he and his receivers haven’t been able to push the ball downfield.
And as you’d probably expect, the veteran quarterback has had his fair share of frustrations with his pass-catching group when plays go off script.
The Steelers offense has been below average through four weeks (points per game are fine but Pittsburgh is bottom three in yardage), but it’s not all Rodgers’ fault. The Steeler run game has been underwhelming yet again, and the offensive line remains a work in progress. And Rodgers just isn’t the type of quarterback who can carry his team on his back anymore. His lack of trust in his O-line has really shown with Rodgers looking uncomfortable in the pocket in recent weeks and even rushing some uncharacteristic bad reads.
Still, he hasn’t lost all of the arm talent that helped make him such a special player in his prime. Every now and then Rodgers still shows off the ability to uncork an absolutely gorgeous throw.
He’s still a starting-caliber quarterback. But he’s not that same old nemesis Vikings fans remember.
2) Pittsburgh appears to have had their struggles on defense early on this season, giving up 30+ points in two of their first three games, but they’ve been dealing with some injury issues. Tell us about those and whether or not those pieces of the defense could potentially return against the Vikings.
The star-studded Pittsburgh defense really disappointed out the gate. There were...
