Late in the second quarter of the Sunday night matchup between the Steelers and Packers, Pittsburgh’s Aaron Rodgers hit DK Metcalf for a 2-yard touchdown and Green Bay kicker Brandon McManus missed a 44-yard field goal.
The score was 16-7 at the break.
But the second half was a wildly different story, as the Packers outscored the Steelers 28-3, en route to a big 35-19 victory.
Green Bay scored on all five of its second-half possessions, first putting up three touchdowns before securing the contest with a pair of field goals.
Quarterback Jordan Love was hot all night, finishing the contest 29-of-37 for 360 yards with three TDs — clearly outdueling his former teammate and the man he replaced, Rodgers. Tight end Tucker Kraft also had a big night, catching seven passes for a career-high 143 yards with two TDs.
Kraft’s second touchdown came with 10:57 left in the fourth quarter and effectively put the game out of reach for Pittsburgh at 29-19. McManus connected on a pair of field goals from 28 and 25 yards to give Green Bay 35 points.
While Pittsburgh’s Roman Wilson caught a 21-yard touchdown ahead of the two-minute warning, the two-point conversion failed — as did the Steelers’ subsequent onside kick.
Rodgers finished the contest 24-of-34 for 219 yards with two touchdowns. Wilson led with 74 yards on four catches. Metcalf had five receptions for 55 yards with a TD.
With the loss, Rodgers failed to become the fifth quarterback to defeat all 32 teams. He would have joined Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, and his predecessor in Green Bay, Brett Favre.
Favre also came up for the Packers on Sunday, as Love completed 20 consecutive passes during the contest. As noted by the NBC broadcast, that tied a franchise-high set by Favre in 2007 — his last season with the team.
With the win, the Packers are now 5-1-1. They will host the 4-4 Panthers in Week 9.
While the Steelers looked like they might have the AFC North wrapped up by Halloween, that isn’t quite the case any longer. At 4-3, they will host the white hot, 7-1 Colts next Sunday.
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