It’s not like we didn’t know already, but Steelers coach Mike McCarthy finally made it plain.
Asked by KDKA’s Bob Pompeani last week if he’d like to try to recreate his Green Bay magic with quarterback Aaron Rodgers, McCarthy replied in no uncertain terms.
“That’s the plan,” he said.
It’s not a great plan. It feels like a plan with a ceiling, and it’s the same ceiling the Steelers keep crashing into: 10-8 with a blowout loss (OK, maybe a close one this time) in the wild-card round.
At most, a playoff win.
At worst, likely 8-9 with no playoffs and all kinds of national media types screaming that Mike Tomlin would have gone at least 8-8-1 and kept that precious non-losing streak alive and be careful what you wish for, Pittsburgh.
All over a half-game difference.
Anyway, Rodgers played better than I thought he would, but that didn’t make any difference in the end. It only got worse: The Steelers scored six points in the worst home playoff loss in franchise history.
I’d rather turn the page and start running some real auditions around here. A Will Howard experiment might go semi-well or real bad. I’m up for either. If it blows up, maybe the Steelers go 3-14. That’s what got the Patriots Drake Maye.
A better bet might be Malik Willis, who’s still only 26 and fresh out of the Matt LaFleur quarterback school. History says buyer beware on quarterbacks with tiny sample-size success (Matt Flynn, Rob Johnson, etc.), but it’s not like Willis is a big-ticket item. He’d probably cost around $20 million over two years. Big deal.
And unlike Howard, Willis has actually done something in the NFL.
He was borderline tragic with Tennessee, which drafted him 86th overall, but who’s not? Things changed in Green Bay.
In 11 appearances and three starts over the past two seasons, Willis went 2-1, completed 78.7% of his passes for 972 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions, and rushed for 261 yards, three touchdowns and 6.2 yards per attempt. His passer rating was 134.6.
Willis was especially impressive in his final two appearances. He relieved an injured Jordan Love against Chicago on Dec. 20 and started for Love against the Ravens the next week and these were his overall numbers: 27 for 32, 409 yards, two touchdowns, zero interceptions, plus 104 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
Again, small sample size, but those were two high-profile games that I’m sure you watched. Are you telling me you weren’t impressed?
You wouldn’t take a $10 million flier on that guy?
You’d rather watch a Rodgers sequel and its predictable ending?
Rodgers has reached the point in his career — much like late-stage Russell Wilson and final-stage Ben Roethlisberger — where he’ll show pockets of brilliance and play well against the bad teams while struggling against the better ones.
That’s just how it is with aging athletes, and quarterbacks in particular.
Take a look:
• In Roethlisberger’s final season, he was 7-3 against non-playoff teams with 16 touchdowns and three interceptions, but 2-5 against playoff teams with six TDs and seven picks.
• In Wilson’s season here (likely his last as a full-time starter anywhere), he was 4-2 against non-playoff teams with 10 TDs and one pick, but 2-3 against playoff teams with six TDs and four picks.
• Rodgers this season was 9-2 against non-playoff teams with 18 touchdowns and two interceptions, but 1-4 against playoff teams with six TDs and five interceptions. And that was before the playoff debacle, complete with two pick-sixes.
He’s also a year older (he’ll turn 43 in December), and it’s supposed to get better?
We could ask all kinds of questions about the future of this franchise, but there is really only one: Where is the next franchise quarterback coming from?
Four full seasons post-Ben, the Steelers still don’t have anything resembling an answer. Reasonable minds are looking beyond Rodgers, even if that means — God forbid — a losing season or two.
I’m not against drafting somebody this year, but that would be a Howard-like project. I’d rather audition somebody with even a tiny track record of NFL success.
That’s Willis.