It had been 2,863 days between victories for head coach Mike McCarthy and quarterback Aaron Rodgers as a duo.
Only two other tandems in NFL history had longer gaps between shared wins (Mike Shanahan-Steve Beuerlein from Raiders to Broncos and Bill Parcells-Drew Bledsoe from New England to Dallas) than McCarthy and Rodgers.
But watching the passing game attack the Falcons defense in Sunday's 20-13 win, you wouldn't know it's been eight years since they were between the lines together. They were aggressive from the get-go and they pushed the envelope downfield.
"I didn't like all the criticism in the media about how short he was throwing the ball [last year]," McCarthy grinned at his weekly press conference Monday, "so I thought we'd just get that right out of the way."
McCarthy was joking, of course, but the Steelers didn't waste any time having Rodgers go deep. And after a relatively low average depth of target a year ago, Rodgers letting it fly was a sight to see.
You could chalk that up to his experience in McCarthy's playbook, his trust in his pass-catchers, what the defense was presenting, or maybe all of the above. It also doesn't hurt when the play-caller has so much confidence in the quarterback.
"I certainly think comfort has a lot to do with it," said offensive coordinator Brian Angelichio. "But that was something we wanted to do was take some shots, try to stress the coverage."
McCarthy wasn't entirely pleased with the operation, though. He took accountability himself as the one dialing up the plays.
The phrase he used was "herky jerky," and he lamented not being able to get his players in a consistent rhythm. But rhythm or no rhythm, McCarthy and Rodgers stuck to the principles of the passing game they established long ago.
"The fastest way to the end zone is through the middle of the field, so it's a starting point for us," McCarthy said. "You're always looking to attack."
They also recognized a lot of single-high structure from the Falcons defense, and they tried to take advantage. McCarthy acknowledged Michael Pittman Jr. making the most of his three targets, on a day that there were missed opportunities elsewhere through the air.
But it's not just the offense. Perfection is the pursuit in all three phases, and none of them emerged from Week 1 with nothing to improve upon. Preseason action aside, Monday was the first chance for McCarthy to sit down with his entire team and show them how he reviews a game as a head coach.
"I'm very systematic in my process," McCarthy said. "Today I spent a tremendous amount of time with the mathematics and analytics and the approach of how all the information taken off the video today was presented to the players. … I think it's a really good meter to create a standard of play, which you feel you need to play above to win in this league. Frankly, that's what was established today.
"Then, off of that, it will be nice to get to Wednesday, because now we have nothing new. We've had every meeting that we're going to have that's new for our players and what they expect. I just think everybody communicates a little differently. It's important that our guys get into a routine and process."
And the double-edged sword is that what they now know about themselves from the tape, the rest of the league can see, too. The Patriots surely will study it in advance of Sunday's matchup at New England, so making the necessary tweaks is paramount.
McCarthy has goals he wants to hit each week. He has thresholds to reach and he has standards to meet. Figuring out the best way to make those marks is what game-planning is all about.
"It's on film now," McCarthy said. "Now we know what the opponent is looking at. We've got to stay in tune with ourselves. I think we've talked so much about the opponent and what the other guys are doing, sometimes you get lost in what's most important, and that's what you're doing.
"We've just got to keep focused on the things we do well, build off of that, and work on the things we didn't do so well."
