Why Ravens LB Kyle Van Noy is desperately seeking his first sack of new Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers

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Baltimore Ravens linebacker Kyle Van Noy has 55.5 sacks on his career and is fresh off a career-best campaign in which he tallied 12.5 sacks and reached his first Pro Bowl. None of those hits on the quarterback, however, have come against Aaron Rodgers. Van Noy said he wants to change that, now that he and the four-time MVP are divisional rivals once again.

Rodgers signed this month with the Pittsburgh Steelers, which means Van Noy will have two opportunities in 2025 to get revenge for a play that still haunts him a decade later. It was during his stint with the Detroit Lions that Rodgers, then with the Green Bay Packers, burned his defense for a touchdown and left a sour taste in Van Noy’s mouth.

“I’d like to get him back,” Van Noy said on NFL Network. “For whatever reason, the D-coordinator [Teryl Austin], who’s actually the D-coordinator of the Steelers, wanted to go Cover 0 all game against Aaron Rodgers. He caught us. We’re like, ‘Oh, we gotta run it.’ Ended up scoring a touchdown to Jordy Nelson. He ended up walking by and kind of tapped me on my butt, like, ‘Nice try.’ So I gotta get him back for that. That’s been there for 10 years.”

Van Noy averaged one sack per start in his most recent campaign. If he stays on that pace, the best of his career, he should be due to take Rodgers to the ground at least once this fall.

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Rodgers took 40 sacks last season with the New York Jets, the most since 2018 and fourth-most in a single year of his career, which dates back to 2005. His offensive line in Pittsburgh may not be any better than the one that blocked for him at the Meadowlands.

“I still feel like he’s slinging the ball around,” said Van Noy. “He has the confidence of anybody, and especially being a four-time MVP of the league. He’s coming into the Steelers, who are ready and primed to have a guy at the helm, at the quarterback position, to take them to where they want to go. I feel like they have a good offensive coordinator with Arthur Smith, who’s gonna get back to that ground and pound. I’m excited to see Aaron Rodgers under center to see if he likes it or not.”

Other AFC North defenders have their sights set on the Steelers quarterback, too. Former NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett said after Rodgers’ arrival in the division that this season is a “good opportunity to put him in the graveyard,” referencing the Halloween decoration he places in his front yard each year. That decoration included headstones for many of the quarterbacks he sacked in his career.

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