Aaron Rodgers made history in Paris on Sunday, October 25, throwing his 540th career touchdown pass to move past Peyton Manning into third place on the NFL's all-time list — and the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the New Orleans Saints 16-10 in the first regular-season NFL game ever played in France.
A crowd of 78,488 packed the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, just north of Paris, for a game that went ahead as planned even as a fan event in the French capital was canceled amid the weekend's protests. The Steelers, technically the visitors, were cheered like the home team for much of the afternoon.
Rodgers rewrites the record book
Rodgers finished 19 of 30 for 212 yards, with one touchdown and no interceptions. The historic throw came in the second quarter: a four-yard touchdown pass to tight end Darnell Washington that gave Pittsburgh a 10-3 lead and broke his tie with Hall of Famer Peyton Manning for third place all-time in touchdown passes.
The drive was set up by a deep completion to star receiver DK Metcalf, and it was Rodgers' only touchdown pass of a day in which Pittsburgh's offense moved the ball well but struggled to finish drives — settling for field goals three times despite outgaining New Orleans 343-281 and converting 10 of 16 third downs.
"We need to adjust a little bit better," Rodgers said after the game. "We've just got to execute better."
Warren runs, Boswell kicks, defense delivers
Running back Jaylen Warren carried the Steelers' ground game with 101 rushing yards on 18 carries, topping 100 scrimmage yards for the fourth time in five games. Kicker Chris Boswell was perfect, hitting three field goals — including a 47-yarder as time expired in the first half that sent Pittsburgh into the break up 13-10.
The Steelers' defense shut out New Orleans in the second half. The turning point came early in the third quarter, when linebacker Payton Wilson stepped in front of a short pass intended for Chris Olave and intercepted Saints quarterback Tyler Shough in the red zone with New Orleans driving for a tying score.
"That's honestly just a credit to our coaches and what we do every day in practice," Wilson said. "I've repped that play, no lie, more than 20 times now."
The Saints' last chances slip away
Shough finished 30 of 38 for 278 yards with a one-yard touchdown pass to Devaughn Vele, but the Saints managed just 18 rushing yards all afternoon — 130 fewer than Pittsburgh — and never recovered from Wilson's interception.
New Orleans still had a chance late: kicker Daniel Carlson, who had made a 38-yarder in the second quarter, pushed a 52-yard attempt wide right in the fourth. Then, with under two minutes left, the 42-year-old Rodgers sealed the win himself, scrambling for eight yards on third-and-6 in Saints territory to run out the clock.
"Sometimes you've got to suck it up and make a play for your guys," Rodgers said. "I think because I am so much less athletic than I used to be, it actually fires up the guys even more."
A third straight win — and a taste for more travel
The victory was Pittsburgh's third in a row and moved the Steelers to 5-2 under first-year head coach Mike McCarthy, while the Saints fell to 2-5. It was also the Steelers' second straight historic road win abroad: a year ago, they beat the Minnesota Vikings 24-21 at Croke Park in Dublin in the NFL's first regular-season game in Ireland.
Rodgers said afterward he wants the league to keep going: he called on NFL owners to schedule more international games, praising the Paris crowd and the atmosphere inside a stadium he said "could trap some of the sound."
"There was a ton of Terrible Towels in Ireland. Same with here. So, we had two great experiences, and it's nice to get two wins," Rodgers said.
Fuentes: Associated Press, Reuters, USA Today, New Orleans Saints, Sportradar.