So, this is why they brought Aaron Rodgers to Pittsburgh.
Prayers. Karma. Magic.
Rodgers did everything he could with his 42-year-old body and soul to lift the Steelers to victory in the winner-take-all showdown on Sunday night. He threw 47 passes for a season-high 294 yards. He went tit for tat against Lamar Jackson during a classic fourth quarter. On Pittsburgh’s last two-minute drive, Rodgers was brilliant, capping it with a 26-yard touchdown strike to Calvin Austin III.
Then Rodgers could do nothing except watch.
The game was won – and lost – when Ravens rookie Tyler Loop’s 44-yard field goal try sailed wide right at Acrisure Stadium as time expired.
Just like that, on the last play of the NFL’s 18-week regular season, the would-be end of the season for Rodgers has morphed into his first trip to the NFL playoffs in four years.
Hold off the questions of whether the living legend will retire or come back next year.
Yes, miracles happen.
‘Chaos. Disbelief. Gratitude,’ Rodgers said during his postgame news conference when someone asked what he felt as Loop missed what was seemingly a made-to-order kick with the AFC North title at stake. “A lot of emotions.’
It should be mentioned that Loop’s kick came in the same end zone where a Catholic priest sprinkled Holy Water on the turf before the game.
See, in a place where one of the franchise’s most iconic moments is known as “The Immaculate Reception,” Rodgers apparently got a lot of favor.
‘I’m not going to ask any questions,” said Cam Heyward, the veteran defensive tackle and Steelers elder statesman. “The good Lord made a good decision, tonight.”
The Steelers, who were home underdogs on Sunday, may need some more divine intervention, if you will, in the AFC playoffs. They’ll open at home in the wild-card round next Monday night against the Houston Texans, who just happen to have the NFL’s longest winning streak, rolling with nine consecutive victories.
At least they’ll have Rodgers, with a chance to write a storybook script with a franchise that, for all its glory and tradition, hasn’t won a playoff game since 2016.
He mentioned, with a chuckle, that the Steelers would probably be considered a home underdog against the Texans. But it was no joke. Pittsburgh (10-7) barely got into the playoffs, having nearly blown what was once a seemingly insurmountable division lead a few weeks ago. And Sunday’s showing, which included Jackson blistering the Steelers for two long touchdown passes to Zay Flowers in that furious fourth quarter, exemplified the hit-or-miss nature of this season.
Then again, it’s a resilient bunch.
‘We had to get off the mat today,” Heyward said. “We shot ourselves in the foot a couple different times. We did not play a perfect game by any means, but in different moments, the offense, defense, special teams, stepped up.”
Hearing Heyward assess the effort brings to mind a couple other times he addressed the state and mission of his team. In October, after a loss against the Green Bay Packers, he sounded an alarm about urgency and maintained that his unit needed to do a better job of responding to adversity with quick adjustments – and fight – while in the midst of the game.
That happened on Sunday night.
During training camp, Heyward told me what needed to happen for the Steelers to avoid another late-season collapse. Remember, last season they were 10-3 before fading down the stretch and getting bounced from the playoffs by the Ravens. Besides health and freshness, he saw the ability to play complementary football as crucial. It didn’t need to be a case of one particular unit carrying the team.
‘So, you look for that balance,” Heyward said in July.
That, too, happened at various points on Sunday night.
Still, the addition of Rodgers – lured with a lengthy courtship by coach Mike Tomlin during the spring – came with the idea that putting the four-time NFL MVP in the mix could be the game-changer that hasn’t existed for the Steelers since Ben Roethlisberger retired.
No, as the final miss illustrated, it wasn’t all on Rodgers. Yet when they needed his veteran poise, savvy and sharp-shooting throws in crunch time, school was out, so to speak. Pittsburgh started its final offensive drive with 2:20 on the clock.
‘I’ve admired him from afar for a long time,” Tomlin said. “It’s good to do it with him.
‘This was the vision in the spring when we pursued him. That’s why you do business with a 41, 42-year-old guy. A been-there, done-that guy with a resume like his, he’s not only capable, man. He thrives in it.”
Rodgers would totally agree. He said that getting the ball with 2:20 left and needing a touchdown was exactly the scenario he wanted. He also thought part of his purpose on Sunday night was rather mystical, too, describing his desire to be a “magnetic force” to help his teammates stay confident and calm.
That mindset sure worked out when things got chaotic near the goal line as Rodgers stayed cool after he was unable to receive the radio communication from coordinator Arthur Smith in his helmet. Then, the radio in his replacement helmet didn’t work, either.
No sweat.
‘That’s part of it, being the old guy, having a lot of gray in your beard,” he said. “They expect things from you. It’s nice to be able to deliver.”
Sure enough, as Rodgers took over for his final drive, T.J. Watt stood on the sideline and expressed his confidence that they were in good hands. Watt called it “a weird, no-panic feeling.”
He added: “You see the ball in the hands of (No.) 8 there and it’s like, ‘He’s here for a reason. And this is why he’s here. This is the best dude in the NFL for this moment.’ To be able to see him deliver on a big stage like that was incredible to see.”
It’s striking that neither Rodgers nor Tomlin has made it back to a Super Bowl in 15 years, since the quarterback led Green Bay to a triumph against Pittsburgh in Super Bowl 45. Now they are joined at the hip in chasing such a possibility again – with the help of a zany ending.
‘It just takes a little belief at this point in the season,” Rodgers said.
He knows. If a team gets hot at the right time, it could lead to a special ending. First, it’s a matter of just getting into the playoffs. On several occasions since he arrived in Pittsburgh, Rodgers has talked about wanting the Steelers to position themselves among the typical handful of teams that will have a legitimate shot to win a championship.
Now they’re one of the 14 teams in the dance.
It was fitting that Rodgers wistfully reflected on squeaking out a 10-3 win against the Bears in the 2010 regular-season finale that allowed the Packers to make the playoffs as a sixth seed. It set up a remarkable playoff run as Green Bay became just the second sixth seed to win a Super Bowl.
‘It gave us a little belief,” Rodgers recalled of that win against the Bears.
Then he used the word again in considering the latest triumph.
‘I think it’s going to give us some belief,” he said.
Belief. Faith. Intervention. Just pass the Holy Water.
Contact Jarrett Bell at jbell@usatoday.com or follow on X: @JarrettBell