As a coach, your outlook towards the team is unbiased, but this may not be the case for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The  Week 13 loss to the Buffalo Bills was ugly, and a Steelers legend didn’t hold back. On his Footbahlin’ with Ben Roethlisberger podcast, the retired quarterback made a shocking claim regarding Pittsburgh’s offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith.

“It seems like if you’re not an Arthur Smith guy, you’re left behind,” he said, arguing that Smith favors certain personnel. “It seems like he doesn’t like Pat Freiermuth. He didn’t get one ball thrown his way.”

Roethlisberger pressed the point further, asking why DK Metcalf, a $150 million receiver, has the same number of catches as Kenneth Gainwell, the running back. Roethlisberger then dropped the bombshell that Rodgers was calling plays in those moments.

”I’ve heard some things that this last game, when they finally moved the ball, Aaron was just calling plays,” Ben said. ” Maybe it’s one of those situations where we unhook the helmet and let Aaron do his thing.”

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There were stretches when the Steelers moved the chains, the first drive of the fourth quarter, say, which covered 57 yards in about three minutes. But that sequence ended badly, too. Facing fourth-and-2 at the Bills’ seven-yard line, Pittsburgh ran Kenneth Gainwell up the middle and turned the ball over on downs.

Roethlisberger hoped that wasn’t Rodgers’ call. The decision underscored a broader problem Roethlisberger highlighted: when the offense needs to be aggressive and creative, coaching choices have looked conservative or inexplicably narrow.

The game had plays where receivers were open in the middle or local space. Jonnu Smith was running wide open on one play, while Rodgers forced a throw to DK Metcalf on a tight, contested route. Clips shared from the game show Smith looking around, obviously confused after not getting the ball.

Since Week 10, Rodgers ranked near the bottom of the league in key efficiency metrics: 32nd in EPA per dropback, 30th in success rate, and 28th in yards per dropback. Over the past month, he’s completed just one pass traveling more than 15 air yards, per tracking.

On dropbacks that last at least three seconds, where progression reads matter most-Rodgers ranks dead last in EPA, success rate, and yards per dropback, averaging only 1.9 yards on those plays. In plain terms, the offense’s chance to stretch and create big plays is collapsing when Rodgers takes time to process.

Many seem to have taken notice of Rodgers’ on-field choices, especially his tendency to bypass open routes over the middle. Even after the game, he was pressed directly on why those opportunities kept going untouched.

Aaron Rodgers talks about the offense avoiding the middle of the field

Rodgers’ recent tape and metrics are concerning for many. When the quarterback is playing this way, the coach’s tendency to lean on certain personnel or schemes becomes magnified. After the game against the Bills, Rodgers was directly asked about the seemingly deliberate call to avoid the middle of the field.

“No, there’s no avoiding it. There’s plays called every single week,” Rodgers said. “The coverage doesn’t dictate the ball going down the field.”

While the game footage did highlight chances where the Steelers could have thrown down the middle of the field, Rodgers remained adamant that there wasn’t a particular intention to avoid throwing down the middle.

Rodgers opened the year looking steady enough to keep Pittsburgh’s offense on schedule, but that early control has faded fast. His production has dipped week after week, and the Steelers now sit at 6-6 with little margin for error as the playoff race tightens around them.

Now the focus shifts to a divisional showdown with the 6-6 Ravens, a game that will shape the AFC North race and the Steelers’ postseason hopes. Pittsburgh will need a sharper version of Rodgers to show up in Baltimore, because a win here can really help them push for the playoffs.