Falcons eager to face ‘Hall of Famer’ Aaron Rodgers in final Week 1 start

FLOWERY BRANCH — Falcons rookie linebacker Kendal Daniels was nearly 2½ years old when Aaron Rodgers entered the NFL. He doesn’t remember a time watching the league where Rodgers wasn’t in it. Rookie corner Avieon Terrell doesn’t either.

In large part because such a time existed for all of three months.

“He’s been in the league 21 years,” Terrell said. “I’m 21 years old.”

The Falcons’ rookie class — and several years worth of their predecessors — grew up watching Rodgers on television. Undrafted rookie quarterback Jack Strand, a native of Bloomer, Wisconsin, said Rodgers “definitely was” an icon when he starred for the in-state Packers. Strand never owned a Rodgers jersey, but he knew lots of friends who did.

But the Falcons’ crop of young players insist they aren’t scared or starstruck. Terrell’s face lit up at the prospect of facing Rodgers, now the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting quarterback for Sunday’s Week 1 bout, in the 2026 second-round pick’s NFL debut.

“It’s a blessing to go against A-Rod,” Terrell said. “Just somebody I’ve been watching since I’ve been growing up. Now, I get to go against him. I’m ready. I’m ready to look him in his eye and ready to go ball.”

On the alternative side of the conversation, Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski has enjoyed — or at times, suffered through — having a front-row seat to all but one of Rodgers’ 21 seasons. It’s only fitting that, in what Rodgers claims will be his final Week 1 start before retiring at season’s end, Stefanski plays a factor.

While he was a young offensive assistant and didn’t game plan against Rodgers, Stefanski joined the Minnesota Vikings in 2006. Rodgers took over the starting reins in 2008. Twice a year, for 12 consecutive seasons, Stefanski watched Rodgers face his team’s defense.

He saw, among many things, unbelievable brilliance.

“I saw and witnessed some unbelievable things that he’s able to do,” Stefanski said Wednesday, “in terms of running right, throwing left, across your body, on the money, 40 yards down the field. Just somebody that, again, I’ve had a front-row seat (to).

“He’s a Hall of Famer. You don’t need to hear from me. You know how great he is. And we respect him. We respect the player that he is and the ways in which he can beat you.”

Rodgers, 42, is the oldest player in the NFL. He went 10-6 as the Steelers’ starter last season, completing 65.7% of his passes for 3,322 yards, 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

“He still can make every single throw,” Stefanski said. “He’s got as good an arm as anybody I’ve ever seen live. It’s unbelievable. So, none of that has fallen off at all. He can beat you with his mind. He’s just a terrific player.”

The biggest benefit to Rodgers’ experience, Stefanski said, is he’s foolproof. Defenses can’t show him a look he’s never seen before, because he’s already played against every scheme and concept in the book. He’s still physically capable of carving defenses, and there are few, if any, sharper minds still playing quarterback around the league.

Rodgers poses a tall task for Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, who spent 12 games as Rodgers’ interim head coach with the New York Jets in 2024. Rodgers referred to Ulbrich as “one of my favorite people in the league” on Wednesday, and Ulbrich said Thursday he’s excited for the “great challenge” of stopping his former player.

“He’s one of the best quarterbacks that has ever played this game,” Ulbrich said. “Still playing at a very high level. On top of all of that, I think he’s got an arsenal of weapons at his disposal as well: receiving corps, the tight end group, the two running backs.”

As if defending Rodgers alone isn’t tough enough, a few other factors don’t help the Falcons.

New Steelers coach Mike McCarthy has a strong history of offensive success with the Packers and Cowboys, and he hired offensive coordinator Brian Angelichio, who spent the past four years with the Vikings.

Subsequently, there’s “a lot of guessing in terms of what (the Steelers’ offense) will ultimately look like,” Stefanski said. But the Falcons are making an educated guess, aided by thorough film reviews from McCarthy’s past stops, his tendencies with Rodgers and some of the concepts Angelichio and the Vikings leaned on last season.

“It’s a lot,” Daniels said, “because you have to go back and watch so many games. And it’s really hard, because if you pick one game that they did or pick one season, then they don’t come out and do that, then it’s like you wasted time. So, it’s a bird’s-eye view of it all.

“So, it’s kind of hard to say what I’m looking at. You just kind of try to find things they’ve done over and over and carried over and try to do those things. And coaches do a great job of giving us things to look at. So just taking what they have for us and not looking at stuff they probably won’t run.”

A common theme among coaches, Stefanski said, is a feeling of excitement for Week 2, when they can evaluate other teams’ Week 1 film and have a stronger idea of the concepts they’ll face.

But the Falcons don’t have that luxury, or any luxury, Sunday. They merely have the challenge of facing, in Stefanski’s words, a future Hall of Fame quarterback in an offense that could take several different forms.

And the Falcons are still trying to find their footing, too. Of the 26 defensive players on their active roster, 14 are newcomers. There’s a blending, balancing act for Ulbrich and the rest of the team’s defensive staff, which provides room for patience — but again, Rodgers gives no time to get comfortable.