Aaron Rodgers kept getting dragged to the turf against the reigning AFC champion.Then the 42-year-old quarterback expressed public frustration with the early state of the Pittsburgh Steelers.Aaron Rodgers is off to a rough start on his 2026 retirement tourWhy did Rodgers blame himself and the Steelers?“In a game like (last Sunday), where there is no flow to it, we need to be better,” said Rodgers, after the Steelers were hammered 20-3 by the New England Patriots.The future Hall of Famer then added, “it starts with me.”But his real point had already been made.Pittsburgh, again, wasn’t good enough with Rodgers at QB.After back-to-back offseasons of the Steelers being the only one of the NFL’s 32 teams willing to patiently wait on Rodgers’ delayed retirement decisions, it’s already getting dark early in Pittsburgh.While Matt LaFleur struggles in Green Bay and Aaron Glenn tries to find safe ground in New York, Rodgers’ current team ranks 30th in average offensive yards per game (249.5) and last in scoring (11.5 points).The winless Miami Dolphins are scoring more than Pittsburgh, while Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are light years beyond what Rodgers is producing in the Steelers’ offense.With an early AFC North game against Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals awaiting on Sunday, Rodgers was asked about finding the right perspective to view the Steelers’ 1-1 start. Rodgers bristles at reporter after frustrating loss“I hate the whole, “We’re close,” or this or that,” Rodgers said. “I think the execution comes down to guys going out and doing their job and communicating. That was our first test on the road with a team that was in the Super Bowl. We had a lot of opportunities. “A lot of times it was just 10 guys doing it right and one guy not doing it right. It was a lot to go around. I had my plays, but everybody had their plays, so we got to shore that up.”Aaron Rodgers’ retirement tour is off to a rough startgettySome fans are already calling for Mike McCarthy to bench RodgersGettyThe oldest QB in the NFL must perform at a much higher level to pay off on Pittsburgh’s risky two-year investment.Rodgers has already been sacked six times and his 58 yards lost tops the league.Factor in that he clashed with Mike McCarthy during the latter’s final run in Green Bay, and the NFL’s oddest reunion could quickly deteriorate.Could go bad for Rodgers and McCarthy in 2026Upcoming contests against Cleveland (twice), Indianapolis, Tampa Bay and New Orleans are winnable for the Steelers, if Rodgers can at least be an average QB who consistently moves the ball.NFL's Greatest......Ranking the top 10......Quarterbacks of all-time – Can anyone better Tom Brady?Wide receivers of all-time – Does Randy Moss or Jerry Rice come out on top?Running backs of all-time – Stacking Jim Brown, Barry Sanders, Walter Payton, Emmitt Smith and moreTight ends of all-time – How does Travis Kelce compare?But his current 5.2 average yards per attempt is his lowest since he became an NFL starter, while he’s only completing 59.5 percent of his passes and has thrown just one touchdown.Rodgers entered Dublin, Ireland with pride and swagger almost one year ago, and the Steelers improved to 3-1 after holding off Carson Wentz and the Minnesota Vikings at buzzing Croke Park.“I really enjoyed everything that we experienced here,” Rodgers said.“It was a short trip. But from the moment we landed, the security guys over at the Carton House were hilarious, and the Guinness was good in downtown Dublin. It’ll be a nice flight back with hopefully a yearly return by us or two other teams.”In 2026, McCarthy looks like an outdated head coach, Rodgers looks like he should’ve already retired, and the Steelers’ ex-coach can see the same things as everyone else.Mike Tomlin doesn’t like what he sees in Pittsburgh“They don’t have a place to hang their hat,” Mike Tomlin said on NBC. “They haven’t established the run, they are not performing well enough on third downs, and to make matters worse, they are not getting yards in chunks.He added: “They can’t solve all of their problems at once. But they need to solve at least one of those problems, and really soon.”The QB-coach duo had success in Green Bay but it didn’t end wellGettyTomlin challenged the Steelers to be betterGettyMason Rudolph, Will Howard and Drew Allar are waiting to take over in Pittsburgh.If Rodgers can’t be better than this, McCarthy will be forced to try and save his job by benching a fading QB who helped kick him out of Green Bay. Join talkSPORT’s dedicated US Sports YouTube channel The S* Word every Tuesday and Thursday for our brand new NFL shows.On Tuesdays, Will Gavin and US senior reporter Brian T. Smith will debate the biggest talking points from the NFL weekend. On Thursdays, Efe Obada joins the crew to talk to players past and present and break down what to look for across the league.