Rodgers, 42, Scrambles to Close It Out as the Steelers Beat the Saints in the NFL's First Game in France

By The Arena Staff

SAINT-DENIS, France, Oct. 25, 2026 — Aaron Rodgers knew what the moment called for, and it wasn't a slide.

With the Pittsburgh Steelers trying to run out the clock in New Orleans territory, the 42-year-old quarterback left the pocket on third-and-6 and ran for 8 yards just before the two-minute warning. That first down helped seal a 16-10 win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday at Stade de France, in the NFL's first regular-season game in France, the Associated Press reported.

"Sometimes you've got to suck it up and make a play for your guys," Rodgers said, per AP. "I think because I am so much less athletic than I used to be, it actually fires up the guys even more."

A crowd of 78,488 watched a game that was built on patience. The two teams combined for eight drives of 11 or more plays, the most in a non-overtime game and tied for the most in any NFL game since at least 2000, according to NFL Research. Pittsburgh converted 10 of 16 third downs, per the Saints' official recap.

The ground game did most of the work for the Steelers. Jaylen Warren ran for 101 yards on 18 carries, his third 100-yard rushing game of the season, and Rico Dowdle added 41 yards on the ground and six catches. New Orleans went the other way entirely: 17 carries for 18 yards, the Saints' fewest rushing yards in a game since 1999, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler noted.

"When you have a day like today, 17 runs for 18 yards, it's going to be hard to win football games doing that," Saints coach Kellen Moore said, according to AP.

Rodgers' biggest throw came in the second quarter, when he moved in the pocket and found DK Metcalf for 51 yards to the New Orleans 4. Later on the drive, he went to 6-foot-7, 265-pound tight end Darnell Washington, who had the 5-foot-11 Kool-Aid McKinstry in coverage, for a 4-yard touchdown and a 10-3 lead. NFL France's call of the deep ball, per AP: "quel caviar d'Aaron Rodgers."

Tyler Shough answered with a 1-yard touchdown pass to Devaughn Vele on fourth-and-goal to tie it. The Steelers got it back right before halftime, and not in a tidy way. Rodgers was sacked on third down with 15 seconds left and no timeouts, the offense ran off, and Chris Boswell sprinted on to hit a 47-yard field goal for a 13-10 lead.

The game turned on the first drive of the second half. The Saints marched for more than seven minutes and were threatening when linebacker Payton Wilson stepped in front of a short throw meant for Chris Olave and picked it off inside the 10. Boswell added his third field goal for the final margin.

"I've repped that play, no lie, more than 20 times now," Wilson said, per AP. "Just gambling a little bit and undercutting it." Sitting beside him at the postgame news conference, Rodgers had a question: "Did it help that you picked me off in practice on this very similar play this week?"

Shough was sharp for most of the day, completing 30 of 38 passes for 278 yards with the touchdown and the interception, while Alvin Kamara led New Orleans with seven catches for 57 yards. Daniel Carlson missed a 52-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. On the Saints' last possession, Shough had two passes batted down at the line and was sacked by Patrick Queen on third down, and New Orleans punted with 5:52 left. It never got the ball back.

Rodgers finished 19 of 30 for 212 yards and the touchdown. He called the rendition of La Marseillaise "gorgeous," though he admitted the play clock was sometimes hard to pick out among all the numbers on the stadium scoreboard. New Orleans brought a bit of home with it, too: the Soul Rebels performed the national anthem and played throughout the game, the team said.

The win was Pittsburgh's third straight, and the Steelers (5-2) face Cleveland next Sunday. The Saints (2-5) fly home to a bye week before they host the Browns on Nov. 8.

Share-card photo: Stade de France in 2019, by Daniel from Glasgow via Wikimedia Commons.jpg), CC BY 2.0, cropped.