FOXBOROUGH, Mass -- Two decades after being drafted to Brett Favre's team in Green Bay, quarterback Aaron Rodgers surpassed the Hall of Fame quarterback in career passing touchdowns Sunday with a 12-yard score to wide receiver DK Metcalf over New England Patriots cornerback Carlton Davis III.
The touchdown gave Rodgers 509 career passing touchdowns to Favre's 508. He later added his 510th -- a 17-yard fourth-quarter scoring pass to Calvin Austin III that helped the Steelers edge the Patriots for a 21-14 victory.
Though it wasn't a milestone score, Rodgers' 510th touchdown pass -- a 17-yard fourth-quarter scoring pass to Calvin Austin III -- was the most important of Sunday afternoon's game as it pushed the Steelers ahead to a 21-14 victory.
"We had to have a drive there, so guys made some plays," Rodgers said of the fourth-quarter score. "We actually just talked about that in the huddle before the drive, about just a subtle signal on what I might want if I gave that when Cal was on the other side, so that was nice.
"He was on the same page. I didn't throw the best ball but Cal's so damn fast. He made a great play."
Before the fourth-quarter touchdown, the Steelers were listless on offense for nearly two full quarters. The unit that gained 102 yards in the first quarter went cold in the second and third and added only 31 more yards to the total. In that two-quarter stretch, the Steelers punted four times, and Rodgers threw an interception. They struggled to sustain drives, running 17 plays over five drives, and in turn, failed to capitalize on most of the Steelers' five takeaways.
"I thought the first two drives were really good rhythmwise, and we just couldn't find that rhythm in the second half there," Rodgers said.
"We got to make those plays so we're not in those positions. 14-0, we're feeling pretty damn good about ourselves. We haven't been ahead by two scores yet, and two drives, two touchdowns, started fast for the third straight week, but I just didn't play great and we kind of lost our rhythm. Had too many penalties and negative yards plays and didn't make 'em pay when we had opportunities."
But Rodgers and the offense found that elusive rhythm in the fourth quarter, turning a sack and forced fumble by Nick Herbig and a fumble recovery by T.J. Watt into a nine-play, 62-yard scoring drive that chewed up nearly five-and-a-half minutes of game time.
"That's oftentimes the case, man," coach Mike Tomlin said of the offense coming to life in the fourth quarter. "It cannot be going the way you desire, but you better have enough emotion, you better have enough belief, you better stay the course in an effort to do it."
In addition to passing Favre, earlier in the first half, Rodgers also moved past Philip Rivers into sixth place in all-time passing yards. Ben Roethlisberger is directly ahead of Rodgers in fifth place with 64,088 career passing yards.
"It means I've played a long time," Rodgers said of the milestones. "I grew up on the Niners. Quarterbacks were my favorite, and then Brett and then I got to play with Brett. I was drafted the year after Phil Rivers, had a friendship through the game with him for years. Loved watching Phil play, just his mannerisms, his lack of swearing, trash talk. Phil was one guy I really enjoyed watching on tape and the only guy to get out of the Pro Bowl with an excuse that he had his eighth or ninth kid, I think, right before that. So good to be mentioned with those guys."
Rodgers tied Favre with his 508th touchdown pass in the Week 2 loss to the Seattle Seahawks with a 2-yard strike to Metcalf in the second quarter.
Rodgers, selected by the Packers in the first round of the 2005 NFL draft, sat behind Favre for three seasons before taking over for the Hall of Famer in 2008. Rodgers threw 475 of his touchdowns with the Packers, while Favre recorded 442 in a 16-season span in Green Bay. Rodgers added 28 in his two-season stint with the New York Jets, though he played only one season after missing 2023 with an Achilles rupture in the season opener. Favre, meanwhile, threw 44 touchdowns in two seasons with the Minnesota Vikings and 22 in one season with the Jets.
Elsewhere Sunday, Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford moved his way up the career passing touchdown list with two touchdown passes. The touchdowns -- the 381st and 382nd of his career -- moved Stafford into ninth all time, breaking a tie with Matt Ryan.
ESPN's Sarah Barshop contributed to this report.