Back in December 2025, the Cleveland Browns clashed against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 17. And defensive end Myles Garrett was on the verge of breaking the NFL's single-season sack record of 22.5 sacks.

To counter that, the Steelers chose a very different approach. During an appearance on the 89 Steve Smith Sr podcast, former linebacker Von Miller broke down the situation.

"Like it was games last year where they were up, and they were doing everything they could to try to stop Myles Garrett from getting the record," said Miller. " You watch that Steelers game, towards the end of the season when he [Garrett] was getting close to breaking the record. He just needed one sack, and Aaron Rodgers was doing everything he could. He didn't even care about winning the game. He just carried that to get the sack on him."

During the July 3 episode of 89 with Steve Smith and James Palmer, Miller pointed out that Rodgers spent the entire game doing everything possible to avoid being sacked. Even if it came at the expense of costing them a win.

Which it eventually did. Pittsburgh collapsed 13-6, which dashed their hopes of clinching a playoff berth that week. Rodgers, too, had an underwhelming showing with 168 yards and 0 TD's.

That ploy to hold off Garrett didn't work either. Myles would go on to record his 23rd sack by taking down Joe Burrow the very next week. The ploy proved futile and backfired on both Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.

More so, it made Aaron Rodgers look bad, feels Von Miller.

Perhaps it was this reckless approach that put Rodgers in the bottom half of the quarterback rankings of PFF this year.

Aaron Rodgers finds himself at the bottom of the PFF rankings

Aaron Rodgers' conservative demeanor proved critical in the playoffs. He went for 17-of-33 for 146 yards against the Houston Texans. The game which they lost 30-6.

According to Max Chadwick and Dalton Wasserman of PFF, that is what brought his ranking down in their book.

"Father Time has caught up with the 42-year-old — he earned just a 68.0 PFF overall grade last year, the worst mark of his career," Max Chadwick and Dalton Wasserman wrote. "His 38.1 PFF passing grade under pressure ranked sixth-worst among qualifying quarterbacks. He has become far more conservative than at any point in his career, as his 6.6-yard average depth of target was a career low and ranked fourth-lowest in the league."

As per Chadwick and Wasserman, things will be tricky for Rodgers as his best days are "clearly behind him." Rodgers' 2025 season did have its moments. He registered over 3,300 yards and made 24 TDs, yet the playoff success was elusive.

Rodgers would certainly hope this year doesn't bring any snags along the way, since this year he will write his final chapter in the NFL.

Do you think Aaron Rodgers will surprise everyone in this upcoming season?

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Written by

Sourav Ganguly

Edited by

Arundhoti Palit