Aaron Rodgers passes Steelers legend Ben Roethlisberger in career passing yards, moves to fifth all-time
Pittsburgh's new QB just passed its old one in the record books
Aaron Rodgers has passed an all-time Steelers legend in the NFL record books. Rodgers, Pittsburgh's current quarterback, moved past Ben Roethlisberger for fifth all-time in career passing yards during Thursday night's game against the Bengals.
Rodgers, who recently passed former teammate Brett Favre for fourth all-time in career touchdown passes, now trails only Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning and Favre in career passing yards. That's a pretty significant accomplishment when you consider that Rodgers spent his first three NFL seasons as Favre's backup in Green Bay. He then missed virtually the entire 2023 season after injuring his Achilles in Week 1.
Rodgers is the first quarterback to pass Roethlisberger in passing yards since Roethlisberger's retirement at the end of the 2021 season. He passed Big Ben on a 15-yard completion to Jaylen Warren just before the two-minute warning Thursday night.
NFL's all-time career passing leaders
| Player | Yards | |
|---|---|---|
1. | Tom Brady | 89,214 |
2. | Drew Brees | 80,358 |
3. | Peyton Manning | 71,940 |
4. | Brett Favre | 71,838 |
5. | Aaron Rodgers | 64,222 |
6. | Ben Roethlisberger | 64,088 |
7. | 63,440 | |
8. | 62,792 | |
9. | Dan Marino | 61,361 |
10. | 61,312 |
A six-time Pro Bowler, Roethlisberger is eighth all-time in career passing touchdowns. In 2004, he won Offensive Rookie of the Year while going 12-0 as Pittsburgh's starter during the regular season. The following season, Roethlisberger became the youngest starting quarterback to win the Super Bowl as well as the first to in the Super Bowl as a sixth-seeded team.
In 2008, Roethlisberger won his second ring after throwing the game-winning touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes in Super Bowl XLIII. Two years later, he and the Steelers fell short against Rodgers' Packers in what was ultimately Pittsburgh's last Super Bowl appearance with Roethlisberger under center.
While he never won another title, Roethlisberger still had some memorable moments during the second half of his career when he was a much more prolific than he had been during his early years.
In 2014, he won his first passing title while becoming the first quarterback to throw six touchdowns in consecutive games. The following season, he led the NFL in average passing yards per game for a second straight year while nearly leading Pittsburgh to an upset win over the eventual champion Broncos in the divisional round of the playoffs.
In 2017, Roethlisberger became the first quarterback to have three career games with at least 500 passing yards after throwing for 506 yards in a win over the Ravens. A year later, he won his second passing title while joining Brady, Manning, Brees, Stafford, Dan Marino, and Patrick Mahomes as the only quarterbacks in history to that point to throw for over 5,000 yards in a season.
Pittsburgh has been trying to find Roethlisberger's longterm replacement since his retirement in January of 2022. While Rodgers may not be Pittsburgh's long-term answer, the 41-year-old is playing at a level the Steelers haven't seen at the quarterback position since Big Ben hung up his cleats.
The Steelers are hoping Rodgers can parlay his success into the franchise's first playoff appearance since since Roethlisberger helped Pittsburgh defeat the Chiefs in the 2016 divisional round.
