Packers 27, Steelers 17: 2-minute drill

October 3, 2021
|In Packers
|By Zach Heilprin

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Aaron Rodgers threw for two scores and ran for another as Green Bay improved to 3-1 on the year with a 27-17 win over Pittsburgh on Sunday at Lambeau Field.

Game Balls

Offense: Randall Cobb

The wide receiver had four catches in the first three games but burst out for five grabs against the Steelers. He turned that into 69 yards and his first two touchdowns with the Packers since 2018.

Cobb did much of his damage on third down, including on the first touchdown drive of the game for Green Bay. He caught an 8-yard pass on third-and-6 and a 12-yard grab on third-and-4. His first touchdown of the game came from 23 yards out on third-and-10, and he later had a catch for 25 yards to convert another third down.

“I wouldn’t say expecting it, but you know I pride myself in being the third down guy,” Cobb said. “Throughout my career, I don’t know where I rank or where I am, but I think I do have a lot of catches on third down. That’s kind of the money down.”

Defense: LB De’Vondre Campbell

Campbell continues to put together good performances every week. He finished with a team-high nine tackles, including an excellent job blowing up a fourth down effort from wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster in the fourth quarter. Campbell added a quarterback hit and a pass breakup to his stat line.

The former Atlanta Falcons linebacker was not signed until the middle of June, but he has proven to be as big of an offseason addition as any the Packers made.

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What They Said

“I think we got a very resilient team. I think we have a very confident team. I think us being humbled Week 1, really opened our eyes to this isn’t a cakewalk, this is the NFL.”

— Cobb on what he has seen from the team through a 3-1 start following an ugly loss to the Saints to open the year

“If you would have told me early in the season, we’d be without arguably two of our best linemen for a couple games and played those two fronts, I would have been ecstatic with two wins and here we are 3-1.”

— Rodgers on beating two tough front sevens in San Francisco and Pittsburgh despite being without David Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins

In Case You Missed It

— The Packers honored the Super Bowl XXXI champion team this weekend, including introducing the players that returned for the celebration. Among them was quarterback Brett Favre, wide receivers Antonio Freeman and Andre Rison, running back Dorsey Levens, kick returner Desmond Howard and defensive lineman Sean Jones.

— Cornerback Jaire Alexander suffered a shoulder injury attempting to make a tackle in the third quarter. After being checked out in the medical tent, Alexander was taken to the locker room on the cart.

— First-round pick Eric Stokes came up with what proved to be the dagger for the Packers, intercepting Ben Roethlisberger with under two minutes to play. It was his first career interception.

— Rodgers tried to get the Steelers with 12-men on the field at one point in the second quarter but they called timeout. TV cameras caught this interaction between the quarterback and Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin.

— Rodgers was clearly tripped by former Badgers outside linebacker TJ Watt during a play in the third quarter. The flag was initially thrown but the officials picked it up. Coach Matt LaFleur was livid over the call but passed on throwing the refs under the bus in his postgame press conference.

“It’s a judgment call,” LaFleur said. “I think the official that threw it, saw it right the first time, but it’s just it’s one of those things that happens. It’s a judgment call.”

— The Steelers appeared to have turned the game on its head near the end of the first half as they came through to block Mason Crosby’s field goal and returned it for a touchdown. But officials called Joe Haden for being offsides, bringing the play back. Instead of Pittsburgh leading 17-14 at the break, Crosby hit on his second chance to give the Packers a 17-10 lead.

It appeared to be a close call and Haden took to social media afterwards to state his innocence.

— Sunday marked the return of several former Wisconsin players. In addition to TJ Watt, linebacker Joe Schobert, fullback Derek Watt and defensive lineman Isaiahh Loudermilk were also back in the state where their played their college ball. Schobert finished with eight tackles and one pass defended, while TJ Watt had four tackles and was credited with two sacks.

Inside the Numbers

196 — That’s how many yards rushing and receiving Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon had on the day. That included a season-high 81 yards on the ground from Dillon on 15 carries (5.4 ypc).

45 – That’s how many receiving touchdowns Randall Cobb has from the slot since his rookie year of 2011. That’s 12 more than any other player, according to ESPN Stats and Info.

9 – That’s how many touchdowns Rodgers has been responsible for in the last three weeks, and he hasn’t turned the ball over. That’s after Week 1 in which he didn’t throw a touchdown and was intercepted twice in a blowout loss to the Saints.

420 – That’s how many touchdowns Rodgers has thrown in his career, tied with Dan Marino for the sixth-most in league history. He is one touchdown behind Phillip Rivers for the fifth most.

24 – That’s how many consecutive field goals Crosby has hit, which breaks his own team record.

What’s Next

Green Bay (3-1) travels to Cincinnati (3-1) to face the Bengals next Sunday.