Aaron Rodgers refused to use the term revenge to describe a showdown with the Green Bay Packers, the franchise he represented for the first 18 seasons of his future Hall of Fame career. Jordan Love only expressed gratitude for the man he sat behind for three years, considering him to be instrumental in his emergence as one of the top young quarterbacks in the NFC. Fans got to see a glimpse of their connection on the field, following the Pittsburgh Steelers' 35-25 loss.

Rodgers ran out to share a quick moment with Love, via USA Today's Ryan Wood. Yes, opposing starting quarterbacks do this almost every time, but this interaction obviously carries far more emotional weight than normal. These two signal-callers experienced many memories together in Green Bay, and now they just squared off on Sunday Night Football.

From Rodgers' displeased reaction to the Packers drafting a QB in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft without giving him a heads-up to a well-documented mentor-pupil dynamic, their relationship has traveled a truly unique trajectory. They are on different paths now, however.

Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love continue to lift one another up 

While the 41-year-old tries to end his historic NFL run on a high note, Love is establishing himself as one of the most composed and consistent QBs in the league. He was quite reflective after his terrific prime-time performance, once again choosing to praise his predecessor.

“Obviously, being behind A-Rod for three years, being able to see him and just the high-level play that he was capable of going out there and doing and being able to put the ball on the money at all times was very cool for me to be able to see,” Love said, per Rob Demovsky, after completing 29-of-37 passes for 360 yards and three touchdowns.

Rodgers, for his part, shined the spotlight on Love and gave the 26-year-old a glowing review after the Packers outscored the Steelers 21-6 in the fourth quarter.

“He played great, played fantastic,” the Super Bowl 45 MVP said. “He's had a really nice season. He's been really efficient with the football. He's opportunistic, though I felt like he was very patient tonight. He took the run solutions, he took the checkdowns, moved in the pocket well. Thought he played really well.”

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Pittsburgh's Aaron Rodgers experiment has been an overall success through the first two months of the season, as illustrated by the Steelers' first-place standing in the AFC North and his 16 passing touchdowns (tied for second in NFL), but this squad is clearly flawed.

The Steelers are starting to experience deja vu

Pittsburgh is alarmingly allowing 25.0 points per game (22nd), a stark contrast from the hard-hitting defense that fans are used to seeing from the Black and Gold. There are also a lack of trustworthy options on offense.

The Steelers struggled to move the ball in the second half, ceding momentum to the Packers after building a 16-7 halftime lead in Acrisure Stadium. Aaron Rodgers was 24-of-36 passing for 219 yards and two TDs. One can only expect so much of him in the twilight of his career, so the burden is on Mike Tomlin to make sure the defense is operating at full force. Otherwise, the advantage of having a seasoned and polished quarterback like Rodgers will be rendered meaningless.

Unfortunately for The Steel City, this does not appear to be a superb roster that is just a competent QB away from contending for a championship. People have to look beyond Pittsburgh's 4-3 record to truly understand its possible limitations.

Tomlin's group stole a victory from the now 1-7 New York Jets in its season opener, benefited from five New England Patriots turnovers in Week 3, survived Carson Wentz and the Minnesota Vikings in Dublin and beat up on the hapless Cleveland Browns. Those are the Steelers' four wins. Translation: more Wild Card Weekend woes could be coming if this team does not change its identity quick.

Meanwhile, the balanced Packers (5-1-1) are first in the NFC and carry strong title aspirations heading into the midway point of the campaign. Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love hope that this latest shared experience will serve them well moving forward.