IT WAS A HARD-FOUGHT BATTLE IN CINCINNATI, OCT. 16, BUT THE BENGALS CAME OUT ON TOP, 33-31. (PHOTO BY MIKE PATTON)
October 16, 2025, was the day that almost everyone in a “Steelers state of mind” were eagerly anticipating traveling to the Queen City, aka Cincinnati, Ohio, and returning to the Steel City of Pittsburgh, sitting atop of the NFL’s AFC North Division as kings of the division sporting a crown of solid gold adorned with diamonds, rubies and emeralds. However, the queen beat the king because on Friday morning at the crack of dawn, the so-called kings wearing Black and Gold arrived back at the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers with the morning sun beaming down at their newly-acquired headpiece. It was only after those crowns were illuminated that the Men of Steel recognized that the fraudulent crowns sitting upon their troubled brows were cast from “fool’s gold,” decorated not with precious jewels, but with cut and useless glass.
I recently wrote a column: “Steelers bake the Brownies; and what’s with the hatred for Bad Bunny?” I wrote the following: “I have a sneaking suspicion that as long as the time of possession of Arthur Smith’s offense equals the T.O.P. of the opposing offense, the defense of the Black and Gold can take a breather. If that happens, the Steelers defense will have to be reckoned with down the stretch.” “Heavy is the crown of the underachiever.”
When certain players lose, some folks may tout past performances of that player to soften the blow. Early on in the Steelers/Bengals game, Oct. 16 in Cincinnati, Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers surpassed 64,000 yards as a passer for his career.
But later on in the game, hitting 64,089 yards was a more valuable accomplishment to the Steelers Nation because with that number, he surpassed the 64,088 yards that Ben Roethlisberger had as the Steelers’ two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had in his 18-year tenure with the team. First of all, Aaron Rodgers did not amass those numbers with the Steelers only. And secondly, the Steelers lost the game with the two interceptions thrown by Aaron Rodgers being partially the reason for the defeat. The only stat that is supposed to matter is whether the team wins or loses; period, end of story, game, set, match. Of course, the defense was going to be blamed for the loss to the Bengals, right? Wrong! It is my personal opinion that at the conclusion of an NFL game, reliving and glorifying the past stats of a quarterback who lost the game moments ago should be prohibited. Take heed to what I am about to say. “First, the steak that you eat today will not satisfy the hunger pains that you will experience a month from now. Secondly, don’t become constipated and full of yourself by trippin’ on the deeds of the past, because you won’t be able to be fulfilled by your performance of the future.”
There was no excuse for the performance of Aaron Rodgers. He lost against Bengals QB Joe Flacco, who was recently traded from the Browns to the Steelers and had less than two weeks to learn the playbook of the Bengals. The big difference was that Flacco inherited an offense with two legitimate number one wide receivers. Meanwhile, there are a few select players who choose to keep their mouths shut, to keep their pockets open. Some fools had the nerve to say that with the performance of Steelers tight end, Pat Friermuth, the Steelers’ number two receiver issue might be on the road to being solved. I am going to put on my Fred G. Sanford fedora now. “Ya big dummies, are you crazy?”
Pat Friermuth
Did any of you “yinzers” watch the Dallas Cowboys versus Washington Commanders game on Sunday, Oct. 19? Watching Dallas Cowboys wide receivers CeeDee Lamb and ex-Steelers and now current Cowboys wide-out George Pickens dismantle the outmanned Washington Commanders was magical, while the performance of the Commanders defense was sad to watch. D.K. Metcalf and George Pickens, both on the Steelers…whew, what a dream.
Consider the unplanned departures of past Steelers stars, Antonio Brown, LeVeon Bell and George Pickens. All three players had the outspoken gene, but they were also infected with the get-into-the-endzone germ. People have asked me: “Did the Steelers anticipate future personality difficulties and clashes between Aaron Rodgers and George Pickens as one of the reasons that Pickens was put on the last train to Clarksville from Point State Park?” Since folks want to dredge up the past, I am going to do some dredging myself. There is a video online titled: “How Good Was Aaron Rodgers?” The article began hyping up Rogers. “Aaron Rodgers is arguably the most skilled quarterback the game has ever seen.”
He’s pulled off throws that defy the laws of physics. What? “Throws that defy the laws of physics.” No wonder Aaron Rodgers exited the womb of college football with such an enormous and unchecked ego. In spite of that blatant negative character flaw, Rodgers was still drafted in the first round even if he was not the first overall pick. Don’t forget that the two picks that Rodgers threw in the Bengals game put an already-tired defense back on the field unnecessarily.
After the 49ers passed on him and drafted Alex Smith in the first round, Rodgers was asked, “How disappointed are you that you will not be a 49er?” He answered, “Not as disappointed as the 49ers will be that they didn’t draft me.” Remember how Shedeur Sanders dropped to the 5th round and was semi-blacklisted because of the perception that both he and his father weren’t humble enough? If the Steelers falter, everyone is going to expect the team to cease being warriors on the gridiron and become Kamikaze sacrificial lambs, ready and willing to fall on their swords to appease the bruised ego of Aaron Rodgers.