Going up against MVP-winning quarterback Aaron Rodgers tends to give a lot of head coaches and teams an "oh, no" feeling. Even though Rodgers is now in his 40s and some would argue he's past his prime, he's a veteran player who still knows how to win. It's almost like going up against a coach on the field.
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers play on Sunday in Week 6 of the NFL season. It's a road game for the Steelers, and it's also a win the Buccaneers need. Heading into the game, the Steelers are 3-2 and the Buccaneers are 1-4, so both teams could use a pick-me-up with a solid win.
Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles has faced Rodgers before. He's 2-2 against the quarterback as a coach and defensive coordinator, so he knows what it's like to go up against Rodgers.
Todd Bowles explains why Aaron Rodgers is such a 'nightmare' for opposing defenses
ESPN has unleashed its Week 6 preview ahead of the weekend of games, and in it, reporter Jenna Laine shares the Buccaneers' thoughts about this matchup.
"It's a nightmare game-planning against him," Bowles said of going up against Rodgers, per Laine. "He's difficult because he's extremely intelligent... He's extremely accurate with the football, and he can dissect things before the play even happens."
Laine adds that "Bowles has been relatively successful using disguises against him. Rodgers has a career raw QBR of 33.9 against Bowles when he uses disguised coverage -- which ranks 40th among all QBs against Bowles teams. Rodgers' QBR is 54.6 against disguised coverages as a whole."
So, the Buccaneers can certainly win this game. Undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels will once again get the start at quarterback with Baker Mayfield out. But anything is possible because this is the NFL.
