Aaron Rodgers is back in the playoffs for the first time since 2021, but it will take some serious magic to make it happen.
The former Packers quarterback led the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 26-24 victory in a winner-take-all AFC North game against the Baltimore Ravens on Jan. 4, sealed by Baltimore kicker Tyler Loop’s missed 44-yard field goal attempt as time expired.
Rodgers found Calvin Austin for a 26-yard field goal with 55 seconds left, the culmination of a classic Rodgers drive that gave the Steelers the lead, but kicker Chris Boswell missed the extra point to give Baltimore life.
advertise
Sure enough, the Ravens surged up the field, including a 26-yard pass to Isaiah Likely on fourth-and-7 from their 50, setting up a potentially game-winning opportunity. But Lupp missed the ball right, and the Steelers finished the season 10-7 and in first place in the AFC North with the playoffs on the horizon.
Pittsburgh will host the Houston Texans in the wild-card round on Monday night, January 12th.
Rodgers has not appeared in the postseason since a 13-10 loss to San Francisco in the divisional round at the end of the 2021 season at a snowy Lambeau Field. In the 2025 finale, special teams nearly made Rodgers pay again.
advertise
The Packers’ lopsided loss to the Ravens last week didn’t do Rodgers any favors, setting up an all-or-nothing situation in the final game of the season. Eerily similar to the 2013 finale, where Rodgers found Randall Cobb in the final minute to beat the Bears on the same bet (win the division or go home), Rodgers delivered. He completed 31 of 47 passes for 294 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions.
January 4, 2026; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) drops back to pass during the first half against the Baltimore Ravens at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Barry Reeger-Imagn Images
Wisconsin native TJ Watt made one of the highlight plays of the game when he caught a deflected Lamar Jackson pass and intercepted it to give the Steelers the go-ahead goal in the third quarter. Watt, who hasn’t played since Dec. 7 surgery for a partially collapsed lung, also had two tackles.
This article originally appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Late touchdown pass puts Steelers’ Aaron Rodgers into AFC playoffs