The Pittsburgh Steelers decided to run it back with Aaron Rodgers this season, bringing Mike McCarthy on as Mike Tomlin’s replacement in an effort to jolt some life into the franchise’s playoff push.

Through the first half of the season, it looks like that move is working out just fine. Sitting at 6-2, they are atop the AFC North and have a legitimate chance to host a playoff game. That said, legendary Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger isn’t sure if Rodgers has been entirely flawless so far.

Ben Roethlisberger Dissects Aaron Rodgers’ 2026 Season

By most metrics, this has been a bounce-back year for Rodgers. Averaging the most yards per game (233.9) since his last MVP season with the Green Bay Packers back in 2021, Rodgers has tallied over 1,800 yards and 13 touchdowns against six interceptions.

Those may be respectable numbers, but they need context. Rodgers ranks 28th in PFN’s Quarterback Impact Metric, a sign that there’s more to his numbers than meets the eye. Roethlisberger is also in that camp. He has seen a few positive signs and a few negative ones when it comes to Rodgers’ body of work this season.

“He’s been around for a long time. Two things that I think he’ll never lose are his mind and his arm,” the two-time Super Bowl champion admitted on this week’s episode of his “Footbahlin” podcast.

“I think something that I would say that is I’ve been pleasantly surprised, is not the right word, but like his mobility. He’s moved around when he’s had to… Aaron was much more of an elite runner with escapability than people gave him credit for early. He was very, very mobile, very fast, a very good athlete. You’re seeing a little bit of mobility when you have to.”

However, the one area where he wants to see improvement is when the four-time MVP is throwing it deep. Pointing to it as a recurring theme, Roethlisberger said he wants to see Rodgers improve in that facet over the rest of the season.

“I’ve never seen Aaron miss as many deep balls as he has. He’s always been such a good deep ball thrower, and he connects on a lot of them. That’s been a little bit off.”

But for the most part, he was satisfied with the production he’d gotten, admitting, “If I’m going back and grading Aaron, I think he’s playing really well. I think he’s helping this team to this record. I think he’s doing some great things.”

It remains to be seen if Rodgers can continue playing at this level, alongside a defense that is ranked at number six inPFN’s Defense Impact Metric.

But so far, they look like a playoff team at the very least, and they should be able to carry that momentum for the rest of the year as well. Rodgers’ Steelers will be back in action in Week 10 off a bye week, when they take on the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday Night Football, with all eyes on who comes out on top in this crucial showdown with playoff implications.