Steelers Now
PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers gets rid of the ball faster than any other quarterback in the NFL. His average time to throw this season is 2.52 seconds, according to Next Gen Stats.
The Steelers also have the lowest air yards per attempt in the league at 4.7 yards. During his media availability on Wednesday, Rodgers explained why the Steelers aren’t taking shots down the field.
“Teams are playing Cover 2. When you’re playing Cover 2, there’s not gonna be a ton of big shots down the field,” Rodgers said. “Until we get them in one-high safety looks, it’s gonna be precision passing and short of the sticks. If you’re playing Cover 2, there’s not gonna be a lot of shots open down the boundary, We’re just trying to be efficient.”
According to Next Gen Stats, Rodgers recorded an average time to throw of 2.17 seconds in the Steelers’ Week 4 win over the Minnesota Vikings, his quickest average time to throw in a game since at least 2016. On quick throws (under 2.5 seconds), he completed 13 of 16 pass attempts for 174 yards and a touchdown. Metcalf caught a 22-yard pass from Rodgers and went the distance for an 80-yard touchdown.
Entering Week 5, Metcalf led all NFL wide receivers in yards after the catch with 199. Metcalf said he watched a lot of Cooper Kupp to work on his YAC game.
Against the New York Jets in Week 1, Metcalf had a 31-yard catch and run that was virtually all created on his own accord. On that play, he hit 21.25 MPH, per Next Gen Stats.
Metcalf entered the Vikings game having caught 10 balls for 135 yards and two touchdowns, both red zone floaters from Rodgers.
“Coverage dictated that,” Rodgers said of Metcalf getting involved early. “We moved him around pretty good, had some good motions to get him off some doubles and it was just coverage. He had single (coverage) on the back shoulder fade. He had Cover 2, but we had nice play action and that’s what DK does best. He can really run and it was nice to get him going early.”
Rodgers added that he was able to connect more often with Metcalf because of the threat Kenneth Gainwell provided on the ground. Usually the Steelers’ backup tailback, Gainwell stepped up in place of the injured Jaylen Warren to rush for 99 yards and two scores.
“There’s been so much talk about, ‘How can we get DK more involved? How can we push the ball down the field more?’” Rodgers said. “And I said last week, ‘You’ve gotta run the football.’ And I think today we ran the ball pretty effectively.”
Alan Saunders provided reporting from Pittsburgh.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers Explains Lack of Deep Passes
