Copyright yardbarker
The Pittsburgh Steelers are just a few days removed from the close loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday Night Football by a score of 33-31 in an electric matchup. While there were plenty of negatives to take away from the game from the Steelers' perspective, there were also plenty of positive outlooks, despite the loss. One of the more positive outlooks that can be taken from the game is how the Steelers' offense was able to seemingly move the ball around the field at will. A lot of this credit being given to Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, as he continues to become acclimated with the offense as the weeks progress. Recently, Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin gave his weekly address to the media, and echoing the sentiment of others that have watched Rodgers' performances throughout the season so far, Tomlin had nothing but praise for how Rodgers has looked within the offense up to this point. He not only gave encouraging comments about Rodgers' level of play so far, but attributed it to a very important factor for any quarterback, which in this instance, is his comfort level within the offense itself. "I think he's probably getting more comfortable with not only the people, the timing component, the personnel component, but the spacing and strategic component, where people are," Tomlin said. "He's always done that, that's always been a component of his game, but from my perspective, the more it shows up, it just indicates comfort to me." This is definitely an encouraging set of comments from Tomlin regarding Rodgers. There was a larger crowd that believed he wouldn't be able to perform within this structured offense for a myriad of reasons, but with the performances he's put on in recent weeks, Tomlin's remarks hopefully indicate that Rodgers will only continue to become a more efficient quarterback as the season enters a difficult stretch. As other key playmakers within the Steelers' offense return from injury, it will become more important for Rodgers to continue to get comfortable within the offensive structure. The changes that will be made to acclimate the returning playmakers will only ensure Rodgers has more work to do regarding getting comfortable, but if Tomlin's statements are indicative of how Rodgers will adapt, it likely will not be very difficult for him going forward. This particular comment is encouraging, especially because the Steelers' schedule gets exponentially harder, starting this week with a critical matchup against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football at home. A comfortable Rodgers within the offense will be one of the many keys to winning the upcoming matchup, but will be important going forward through the rest of the season. Steelers Need Consistent Performance From Aaron Rodgers Going Forward Immediately after the matchup against the Packers, the Steelers will be heading into a very difficult stretch of games, taking on the Indianapolis Colts, one of the hottest teams in football, the very next week. After this, they'll hit the road to take on the Los Angeles Chargers for another matchup on primetime. Having Rodgers be more comfortable within the offense as Tomlin alluded to will hopefully not just lead to great performances against strong teams, but will also hopefully establish consistent performances, especially as the rest of the season plays out. Tomlin's remarks should be words of encouragement to Steelers fans, especially to the ones hoping that Rodgers will be able to consistently develop and put together a string of strong performances as he continues to gain comfort within the offensive scheme. If he continues to do that, especially over the next month of the season, the Steelers will surely be looked at as true Super Bowl contenders.
