Aaron Rodgers is now a Steeler, but it won’t be an easy path to redemption for him. Despite joining one of the most decorated and supported teams in the NFL, he also joins one of the most competitive and physical divisions in the league: The AFC North. That means at least twice this season, he will have to line up against the Cleveland Browns and one of the best defensive ends in football, Myles Garrett.
Despite being various shades of bad throughout the last several seasons, Garrett has proven to be unflappable, making it to the Pro Bowl six times and winning the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2023 (which may or may not have been stolen from T.J. Watt, but I digress). Meanwhile, Rodgers is coming off a tumultuous two seasons with the Jets and is on the wrong side of 40, but still is a future Hall of Famer and a former 4-time MVP. This is a matchup that many football fans, especially those in the AFC North, will be looking forward to. But how will that matchup play out?
We ran the simulation in Madden 25. Let’s see what happened.
How We Simulated The Aaron Rodgers-Myles Garrett Showdown
As usual, we like being transparent on how we do our simulations here at Operation Sports. So here’s how we simulated Aaron Rodgers’ showdown with Myles Garrett and the Cleveland Browns in Madden 25.
- We used the roster file with Gabe Davis on the team, which was previously used to simulate who the Steelers could add to the team in the offseason. Davis is a lower overall than Allen Lazard and is a free agent heading into 2025, unlike Lazard who’d require a trade.
- While Madden 25 gives players the ability to simulate games in Play Now with the Super Sim feature, I couldn’t find any settings that gave me realistic results in terms of scores. Therefore, I went into Franchise Mode, simulated until the Steelers’ first game against the Browns, and made a save point.
- In the interest of compiling enough data and giving each team a shot at being their best selves, I simulated the game three times.
- Figuring out the Browns’ QB situation was tricky, as they have a very crowded QB room. To make things fun, I released everyone except DeShaun Watson, Shadeur Sanders, and Dillon Gabriel. I don’t know how fair or unfair that is, but oh well. Sanders will likely get the start as the custom roster I downloaded has him at a 71 overall, but we’ll see.
Heading into the two teams’ matchup, the Steelers are in the midst of a really good season, unlike past sims we’ve done. Their offense is terrible and ranks second-to-last in the NFL, but the Steel City defense is holding it down. Meanwhile, the Browns are 4-6 — not great, but they’re still in it and have been competitive, even with the inexperienced Sanders under center.
The Results
Simulation 1: Browns Outlast The Steelers And Win 28-21
In the first sim, the Browns came out on top, winning by a score of 28-21. Aaron Rodgers played decently, throwing a touchdown and no picks while amassing 231 yards. Not a bad day at the office by any means.
On the Browns’ side, Myles Garrett combined for 5 tackles on the day (3 solo and 2 assisted), two of them being for a loss, and even got a half sack. However, it was Denzel Ward and Devin Bush who carried the Browns defense, combining for 14 tackles with identical stats in other categories.
The Browns emerge victorious in this one, but both Rodgers and Garrett had modest results.
Simulation 2: Steelers Blow Out The Browns 28-0, But Both Rodgers And Garrett Show Out
In our second simulation of the Steelers-Browns matchup, the Steelers dominated the Browns, especially on defense. Through all four quarters, the Browns could only muster 130 total yards on offense — 31 on the ground, 99 in the air.
Aaron Rodgers had an exceptional game, throwing a touchdown with no picks, amassing 216 yards, and completing 21 of 25 passes. He wasn’t throwing bombs left and right, but he was incredibly efficient and did the job.
But even if his Browns weren’t up to the challenge on this particular night, Myles Garrett had a great game in his own right. Not only did he get a sack on the night, but he had 9 tackles (6 solo and 3 assisted), 4 of them being for a loss.
Simulation 3: Browns Win In A 33-30 Shootout As Garrett Terrorizes Rodgers
In our first two simulations, both Aaron Rodgers and Myles Garrett more or less matched each other in terms of performance, even if the results were radically different. This time, however, Garrett got the better of Rodgers by any metric.
Overall, the game was a barn burner and ended with a final score of 33-30 in favor of the Browns. On the defensive side, Devin Bush again was the standout, registering 12 total tackles. Garrett, however, was the main QB instigator for Cleveland, sacking Rodgers 2.5 times whilst registering 7 tackles. And going by the numbers, it looks like Rodgers was rattled.
Unlike in past games where Rodgers was incredibly efficient, Rodgers threw 1 TD and 1 INT, completing 61% of his passes on 31 attempts. This contributed to an 83.1 quarterback rating.
