When the Green Bay Packers facing the Pittsburgh Steelers on “Sunday Night Football” in Week 8, it won’t be just any NFL game.
It will pit current Steelers and former longtime Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers against former old team and their current franchise quarterback, Jordan Love — the player who seemingly forced Rodgers out of town.
Rodgers is in his first year with the Steelers, and his numbers are solid. Under Rodgers, the Steelers are 4-2 and at the top of the AFC North. Love is also delivering for the Packers as well, leading them to a 4-1-1 record and putting them neck-and-neck with the Detroit Lions for the top spot in the NFC North.
And while Rodgers playing his former team is the storyline of the weekend, Love will make his 40th career start, according to ESPN Research, against the quarterback whom he replaced.
Even though Love and Rodgers are rivals on Sunday, there’s still a good amount of love between the two. Earlier this week, Love told reporters that he and Rodgers are still friendly and still exchange text messages.
“Coming into it, obviously, I never knew what to expect, but Aaron was great to me all three years,” Love said, according to Matt Schneidman of The Athletic. “We shoot each other a text every now and then. A lot of it is just saying good luck throughout the season. A-Rod texted me and was talking about some of the plays we’d run and some of my footwork, things like that, complimenting me, so obviously it’s great to be able to hear from him.”
Love also said that he has a lot of respect for Rodgers.
“I’ve got so much respect for him, and any time he gives me pointers, stuff like that, obviously, you want to get feedback from a legend like that,” Love noted. “So, we’ve got a great relationship, obviously. I’m excited to be able to see him Sunday, be able to go against him.”
As for game day predictions, Tyler Sullivan of CBS Sports has the Packers winning by a hair, 24-23.
“Coming into this matchup, the Packers are 0-3 ATS on the road this season and are 1-1-1 straight up. I can see Green Bay’s talent ultimately winning out, but Pittsburgh will keep it close enough to cover,” Sullivan says.
