PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jordan Love spent three years absorbing what he could from Aaron Rodgers. Footwork. Cadence. Throwing motion. Film study. The list of things Love gleaned from his mentor goes on and on, every last item invaluable in Love’s development.
And seemingly every last one of them was on display Sunday night, when the Green Bay quarterback of the present and future outdueled the Green Bay quarterback of the past and served notice he’s ready to start writing a legend of his own.
Looking every bit as good as Rodgers in his prime, Love passed for 360 yards and three touchdowns as Green Bay raced past Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers 35-25 in what in many ways felt and looked like an official passing of the torch.
Yes, Love knew there would be considerable hype around Rodgers’ first-ever game against the Packers since being nudged aside for Love in early 2023. While Love admitted there was a little more pressure this week than usual, he hardly looked bothered while completing 29 of 35, including a franchise record-tying 20 straight spanning the end of the first half and the vast majority of the second.
“My mindset was just trying to come out here and focus on getting that win, trying to block all that extra stuff out and just be the player I need to be,” Love said.
That player looks plenty good enough to keep Green Bay (5-1-1) in contention in a wide-open NFC.
“He showed why he’s the (successor),” Packers defensive end Micah Parsons said. “I mean, he’s the up-and-coming. Like Jay Love, when I talking about when I was coming here, I was like, ‘I know they got a quarterback.’”
Yes they do.
“He was on fire,” Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur said. “That’s why we kept wanting to throw the football.”
That and the fact the Steelers (4-3) had trouble stopping it. Green Bay piled up 454 yards of total offense and after a promising first half, the 41-year-old Rodgers and the rest of Pittsburgh’s offense couldn’t keep pace.
Rodgers, who won four MVPs and a Super Bowl in 18 seasons with the Packers before being traded to the Jets in the spring of 2023, completed 24 of 36 passes for 219 yards and two scores but couldn’t deliver the kind of magic that he has summoned on occasion in his 21st year.
“Disappointed I didn’t play better (and) that we didn’t play better, especially in the second half,” Rodgers said.
Given the way Love was slinging it, it might have been Rodgers to keep pace even while at his best. Love completed his last four passes of the first half and his first 16 of the second, two of them for scores, as the Packers erased a nine-point deficit to win at Pittsburgh for the first time since 1970.
“It’s great for Jordan,” LaFleur said. “Jordan’s worked his (butt) off to get here. He was patient throughout the process, throughout the journey, and he took advantage of the opportunity, he really did.”
Tight end Tucker Kraft caught seven passes for a career-high 143 yards and two touchdowns. Christian Watson added four receptions for 85 yards in his return from a torn ACL he suffered in the 2024 regular-season finale.
Josh Jacobs ran for just 33 yards, but his 3-yard scoring sprint on the first play of the fourth quarter put the Packers up for good as Pittsburgh’s defense stumbled yet again, nine days after being carved up by Joe Flacco in a loss at Cincinnati.
Wearing throwback jerseys honoring Pittsburgh’s inaugural team in 1933 — when the club was known as the Pirates — the Steelers turned back the clock in a way that felt less like nostalgia and more like “here we go again.”
Given an opportunity to strengthen its hold on the underwhelming AFC North, Pittsburgh instead saw the NFL’s highest-paid defense struggle to keep Love and the Packers in check. The Steelers were pushed around repeatedly over the final 30 minutes as the Packers firmly grabbed control.
“We’ve just got to be better in all areas and it starts first with the positions that we put players in and so as coaches, as players, as all of us, we own it,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “We’ll be better. We have to be.”
Rodgers said repeatedly that he wasn’t looking for revenge against his old team, and he plans to one day retire in the town where he cemented his status as a future Hall of Famer.
By the end, Rodgers found himself in familiar territory: hearing the fans chant “Go Pack Go! Go Pack Go!” after another Packers victory. It was the first time in 21 years Rodgers found himself on the other side of it.
“I’ve heard that chant for 18 years, so Packer fans travel really well,” he said. “First time in a while I’ve used silent count for a home game. That’s a credit to most Packer fans.”
Injuries
Packers: Linebacker Nick Niemann left in the second half with a chest injury.
Steelers: Defensive lineman Daniel Ekuale left with a knee injury in the second quarter. Safety DeShon Elliott exited in the third quarter with a potentially serious right knee injury. Left guard Isaac Seumalo went down with a chest injury and didn’t return.
Up next
Packers: Host Carolina on Sunday.
Steelers: Host Indianapolis on Sunday.
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