Playing his final game before his highly anticipated Week 8 matchup with the Green Bay Packers, Aaron Rodgers first had to get through the Week 7 opener on Thursday night. And what an opener it was, as the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals engaged in an instant classic, with the Bengals ultimately taking a 33-31 shootout victory.
Rodgers had quite the up-and-down evening in the defeat. While the four-time NFL MVP completed 67.6 percent of his passes for a season-high 249 yards and four touchdowns, he also threw two interceptions, both of which came in the second quarter and both of which led to Cincinnati scoring drives, as the Bengals got 10 points off the pair of turnovers.
Keeping with the up-and-down theme, Rodgers made a little history on Thursday night, as he made his way into the top five on the NFL's all-time passing yards list. That's obviously on the up list. On the down list, however, there was a bit of an ugly moment late in the game, as he snapped his own teammate for getting a little too overzealous during a touchdown celebration.
Aaron Rodgers passed Ben Roethlisberger on the all-time passing yards left before snapping on teammate Broderick Jones
Rodgers actually made some NFL history when he first set foot on the field Thursday night, as the 41-year-old and 40-year-old Joe Flacco became just the second pair of quarterbacks aged 40 or older to start against one another.
Tom Brady and Drew Brees were the first duo to do so during the 2020 campaign and actually squared off three times that season. Brees, at age 41, led his New Orleans Saints to a pair of victories over 43-year-old Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the regular season.
But two days after Brees turned 42, TB12 won the game that mattered most, as the Bucs took down the Saints in the Divisional Round of the postseason en route to winning the Super Bowl.
So, that's fun.
As mentioned, Rodgers moved into fifth place on the NFL's all-time passing yards list on Thursday night, and the man he surpassed was none other than Steelers legend Ben Roethlisberger, who threw for 64,088 yards during his 18-year career, all of which was spent with Pittsburgh.
Needing just 116 yards to pass Big Ben, Rodgers did so late in the first half, connecting with Jaylen Warren on a 15-yard pass just before the two-minute warning. With his 249 yards on the night, Rodgers now sits at 64,222 for his career, trailing only Tom Brady (89,214), Drew Brees (80,358), Peyton Manning (71,940), and fellow Packers legend Brett Favre (71,838).
Rodgers passed Favre on the all-time TD passes list a few weeks back, but he won't be catching his former teammate in passing yards unless he plays several more seasons, which he says isn't happening.
Sixty-eight of Rodgers' 249 yards against the Bengals came on a fourth-quarter touchdown pass to tight end Pat Freiermuth, a score that ultimately helped the Steelers take a 31-30 lead with just 2:21 remaining.
Rodgers was naturally excited about what had transpired, but so was Pittsburgh left tackle Broderick Jones, who got a bit overzealous during the celebration and legit tackled his quarterback as they made their way to the sideline. Rodgers clearly didn't appreciate it and quickly jumped and absolutely went off on the 311-pounder.
One can only assume Rodgers had words with Jones in the locker room afterward to discuss how that type of celebrating can't be a thing moving forward. Packers fans, of course, are hoping Rodgers and Jones won't even get the chance to celebrate next Sunday.