Aaron Rodgers went up against his former team, the Green Bay Packers, on Sunday night, but couldn’t pull off a win, as the Pittsburgh Steelers fell 35-25 for their third loss of the season. But it’s not like Green Bay completely outplayed Pittsburgh. Let’s just say the Steelers, or more specifically, DK Metcalf, sort of handed them the game.

The Steelers were looking to cut the deficit in the fourth quarter, but the veteran wideout decided to poke the Packers’ Quay Walker in the eye. The refs flagged the Steelers with a 15-yard penalty, which pretty much sealed the game for Green Bay. Right after that went down, Walker addressed what went through his mind during the incident.

“DK grabbing my face, as I want to retaliate,” Walker told Emmanuel Acho. “Everything just reflected back to my rookie year when I got a jetty, and how I felt in that situation. It’s so hard because I have to tell myself when to calm down. Because when I’m on the field, I’m a whole different person. I go into a whole different moment.

“We’re playing against grown men. We’re running into grown men for our street. So I’m a whole different person. It takes me a while to cool down. Even in between plays, I still be on that. But you know what I’m saying? I’ve to tell myself just to chill. I go back to the sideline, meditate, just try to calm myself down.”

Translation: Walker wanted to retaliate, but he knows how to calm himself down in such situations. The result? The fourth-year linebacker avoided what could have been a potential scuffle between the players. Meanwhile, it’s safe to say that Metcalf’s actions against Walker didn’t actually work out in the Steelers’ favor.

The Steelers controlled the game in the first half. However, the Packers came back stronger in the second half and scored 28 points. 21 of those points came in the fourth quarter alone. The Steelers, on the other hand, scored just 9 points in the second half.

In the process, they’re trying to trim the deficit in the fourth quarter, but DK Metcalf’s mistake drew a 15-yard penalty, pushing the Steelers back from 3rd-and-2 to 3rd-and-17. From there, things just unraveled, and Pittsburgh just couldn’t recover.

Aaron Rodgers’ reunion with the Packers ended in a loss

Brett Favre did it back in 2009. The NFL legend defeated the Packers in his first meeting since parting ways. But that can’t be said about Aaron Rodgers. The 41-year-old QB hosted his former team but was overwhelmed on the field as Jordan Love and his offense beat the Steelers on Sunday night. Rodgers was frustrated after the game.

“Disappointed,” the veteran said after the game. “Disappointed I didn’t play better, that we didn’t play better, especially in the second half.” Rodgers walked out of Acrisure Stadium after completing 24 of 36 attempts for 219 yards and 2 touchdowns.

In the process, he didn’t throw an interception, sure. But he took three sacks, as the Steelers now sit at 4-3.

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“I think in the three losses, there’s been times where we’ve had opportunities, and we’ve hurt ourselves with turnovers or just negative plays — so we got to cut those out,” Rodgers added. “We got to get on the same page on offense and defense and keep the faith.”

There were plenty of reasons behind the Steelers’ loss, but one glaring issue stood out: Penalties. Pittsburgh shot itself in the foot with six penalties for 65 yards, including a costly 15-yarder on DK Metcalf. Now, with the 7-1 Indianapolis Colts up next, Rodgers and the crew will be eager to clean things up and bounce back.