Steelers' Aaron Rodgers Is Under Pressure To Perform Great Early In 2025 NFL Season

The Pittsburgh Steelers are ready to roll with quarterback Aaron Rodgers for the 2025 NFL season. This is to the joy of many fans in Steeler Nation (and to the dismay of others). Either way, the team expects him to be the piece they need to at least win a playoff game for the first time since the 2016 season. The fan base will be watching closely to see if the 41-year-old can go back to his old MVP form, or if he keeps regressing from his New York Jets tenure. 

On the latest episode of PFT PM Mailbag, NFL insider Mike Florio spoke about the pressure that Rodgers is under to perform, especially right off the bat.

"Those fans that are skeptical about Aaron Rodgers, once he starts throwing the ball around Week 1 at the Jets, Week 2 against the Seahawks, Week 3 at the Patriots -- They go 3-0, fans will be feeling very differently about Aaron Rodgers," Florio explained. "It puts a ton of pressure on that first game. What a game to start the season with... Aaron Rodgers trying to prove that the Steelers were right and prove that the Jets were wrong. So much drama."

Steelers fans can be the nicest people you've ever met, or your biggest critics and haters depending on what happens. Rodgers can make a lot of fans happy if he comes out, plays well overall, and leads the Steelers to three wins to begin the year. The criticisms and constant barrage of negative takes would go away quickly. If not, they will only grow louder.

They always say that a first impression is the most important. There is no better way for Rodgers to give his first impression than to face the team that cut him after a disastrous two-year tenure together. If he loses to the Jets with a rookie head coach in Week 1, Steeler Nation may not ever let him hear the end of it. If he wins, then it will likely take a while before they become irate again. 

At the very least, Rodgers should have a lot of motivation in that Week 1 contest in particular. They cut him for not being a good quarterback that allegedly took the whole team down with him and caused numerous people to lose their jobs (which may have scared some people in Pittsburgh as well). A good, drama-free game for Rodgers will do a lot for his reputation at this point in his career.

Steelers QB Isn't The Only One Looking For Revenge

Rodgers' Week 1 opponent won't just lie down for him. Jets quarterback Justin Fields is also looking to prove his former team wrong for not showing enough confidence in him during the 2024 season, and for not offering him as much as the Jets did in free agency. In this case, General Manager Omar Khan reportedly low-balled him after last year's campaign, where he got benched, despite starting 4-2 and earning the respect of his teammates. The two teams essentially swapped quarterbacks, and now they want to prove each other wrong. 

Many fans wanted Fields over Rodgers. The younger quarterback getting his revenge would fuel those fires. The idea of that is to take the quarterback with some upside as opposed to the one that will likely retire after the season. People will be screaming that in the Steelers' faces for a long time if they fail to beat the Jets in September. It's rare that a Week 1 game has so much at stake for morale and happiness, but this is the case for Pittsburgh more so than New York.