Last December, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense was going nowhere in a loss to the Buffalo Bills. Ben Roethlisberger, watching at home, floated a simple idea: unhook the helmet and let Aaron Rodgers do his thing. Since then, Pittsburgh has changed head coaches, coordinators, and started a new season. Yet on October 18 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the offense spent most of the afternoon stuck again and only woke up in the fourth quarter. Big Ben has now said it again, and this time he explained why.

According to Steelers Depot on X, on his Footbahlin podcast, Roethlisberger argued, “Aaron Rodgers is already doing everything he wants to do, anyway. Why not let him do his thing? Sometimes it makes it easier for o-linemen, too.

His reasoning: it “makes the defense a lot more vanilla,” which also helps the offensive linemen.

The 2026 season has not been easy for the Steelers. Pittsburgh scored just one touchdown in its first 25 possessions across the opening two games. In Week 2, the Steelers lost 20-3 to the New England Patriots. Aaron Rodgers was sacked four times, fumbled twice, threw an interception, and was replaced by Mason Rudolph late in the game. The offense also converted only 5 of 25 third-down attempts early in the season.

Rodgers, however, asked fans to be patient and said there was “not any panic.” However, he also pointed out that the offense had too many plays to work with. Pittsburgh has since improved to 4-2, with wins over the Cincinnati Bengals, Indianapolis Colts, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Pittsburgh has averaged 28.5 points per game over its last four games and scored at least 24 points in each. So, Roethlisberger’s main concern is not the team’s scoring. He is worried about its slow starts. He wants the offense to play faster from the opening drive instead of picking up the pace only when the team falls behind.

Big Ben has made similar comments before. After the Steelers lost to the Bills in Week 13 last season, Rodgers completed just 10 passes for 117 yards. Roethlisberger said he had heard that Rodgers started calling the plays himself when the offense began to move the ball. That inspired his suggestion to “unhook the helmet.” He also knows what it is like to call plays himself. Some of his best drives with the Steelers came when he called his own plays.

However, the situation is different this season. Aaron Rodgers is 42 and has said that this will be his final season. Mike McCarthy, who coached him for 13 years in Green Bay, is now in charge of the Steelers’ offense.

Still, there are other factors to consider. Several reports noted that McCarthy’s play-calling, especially during a goal-line sequence against Tampa Bay, nearly cost the Steelers the game. Several pointed out that Rodgers and McCarthy likely discuss plays regularly, hinting there may not be as much of a communication gap as Roethlisberger suggests.

Even so, the timing of Roethlisberger’s comments is worth watching. The Steelers face the New Orleans Saints in Week 7 before their bye in Week 9. A tougher stretch of games follows. If the offense continues to start slowly, Roethlisberger’s suggestion to “Let him do his thing” could become more than just an opinion.