Aaron Rodgers Admits He Was Sick During Steelers’ Playoff Loss: Was Pittsburgh Ever Going to Beat Houston Anyway?
Aaron Rodgers finally admitted the obvious. He was not himself during the Steelers’ playoff loss to the Texans last January.
Rodgers told Michael Silver of The Athletic that he was battling flu-like symptoms in the days leading up to the AFC Wild Card game. The team hotel sent him home the night before kickoff because he was pale and looked, in his own words, like he had been run over. He had a fever and vomiting, and former offensive coordinator Arthur Smith said Rodgers was downplaying how bad it was.
“There was never a question he was gonna play, and he’s never one to complain, but he looked terrible before the game,” Smith said.
Then he went out and threw for 146 yards on 17 of 33 with two turnovers in a loss.
Here is the honest read. Rodgers being sick did not cost the Steelers that playoff game. The Texans were the better team on that day, in that building, with that defense. Pittsburgh’s offense was struggling long before Rodgers ever got the flu, and the whole season had been trending toward a one-and-done result even when he was healthy.
But you also cannot ignore what this admission is really about. It is Rodgers giving fans a reason to soften the memory. It is a version of the record that includes an asterisk. “He was really sick, that is why the game got away from him.” That is the frame he wants people to carry into 2026.
Fine. Give him that. He is a Hall of Fame quarterback and he probably deserves some benefit of the doubt on a Wild Card game he played through a fever. Any of us who has tried to work through the flu knows how brutal that is.
What matters more is what he does this fall. Rodgers is coming back for one more season with the Steelers, which he confirmed in the same interview. That means he gets a real, healthy runway to see what this thing actually is. If he plays like a top ten quarterback, the flu excuse becomes a footnote. If he does not, it becomes the moment fans point to as the beginning of a slow ending.
Mike Tomlin’s team needs an offense that scores in the postseason. That is the entire mission. It has been the mission for years. Aaron Rodgers healthy in December is the version of him that pays off the trade, the money, and the drama.
Aaron Rodgers with a fever is the version everyone will forget the second the ball is snapped in September.
The clock is running. The flu is not going to be a story that lasts past Week 1.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
