Aaron Rodgers’ Steelers face Browns in his final Thursday night game as Pittsburgh tries to erase a 46-year nightmare (Image via Getty Images)
Aaron Rodgers will play the last scheduled Thursday night game of his career when the Pittsburgh Steelers visit the Cleveland Browns at 8:15 p.m. He sits one win short of tying Tom Brady’s record of 14 Thursday wins by a quarterback. Both teams are 2-1. The Steelers beat Cincinnati 30-27 last week, and the Browns edged Carolina 21-18. Pittsburgh also arrives with an 0-9 mark in Thursday road games against AFC North opponents. Rodgers, 42, plans to retire after this 22nd season, so Cleveland is his final shot at matching Brady’s number. When he returned to training camp on July 28, a reporter asked if he was weighing another year after this one. Rodgers turns 43 in December, and this is his last scheduled Thursday game. Brady’s mark is 14, so a win ties it and nothing more. The Browns won 24-19 in a snowstorm two years ago. The 2019 meeting is remembered for Myles Garrett ripping off Mason Rudolph’s helmet and hitting him with it. Browns tackles have allowed a 13.5% pressure rate, second highest in the league, and Tytus Howard’s 17 pressures are tied for the most by a right tackle. TJ Watt has 17.5 sacks in 15 games against Cleveland. Deshaun Watson has lost all three starts against Pittsburgh and been sacked 18 times. Mike McCarthy is 11-5 on Thursday nights, and the Steelers are 2.5-point favorites.
Because of the money that’s in it, i think it’s part of the game now. Rodgers signed a one-year deal with Pittsburgh in May after more than four months of deliberating. Pittsburgh has lost all nine Thursday road games against AFC North teams, and four of those came against Cleveland. Cleveland has also won seven straight Thursday games, tied for the fourth-longest streak in NFL history.
Everything he has said points to yes. Asked whether this would be his last season, he told reporters, “Yes, this is it. I think I’m just excited about the weekend,” Rodgers said. History says be careful. So it’s an even playing field,” he said.
ET on Amazon Prime. His answer was short. “No. Zero debate. That certainty changes how Thursday reads. There is no later date to push past him. He does not sound sentimental about the night itself. “I just suck it up for those three hours and then know you get a reward on the back end. If the Brady record matters to him, he is keeping it quiet. Defensive tackle Cam Heyward does not see the short week as a one-sided problem. “But the great thing about it is they got to deal with the same problems we are. The line play may decide it.