Aaron Rodgers, Mike McCarthy caught on hot mic vs. Browns

It happened in the first quarter, at 0-0, with the Steelers sitting on first-and-10 in Cleveland territory and the play still not in Rodgers' helmet.

Matt Schneidman

@mattschneidman

Rodgers and Mike 😂

Here's the sequence. With roughly 20 seconds on the play clock, Rodgers turned to the sideline and shouted "What the f*ck?! Call it!" because nothing was coming through the headset. The broadcast then caught McCarthy appearing to answer with "F*ckin' a**hole." Wild thing is the drive worked anyway. It ended with Rodgers hitting Roman Wilson for a 12-yard touchdown. The play-calling was a mess and the drive still finished in the end zone, which is about as Rodgers-McCarthy as it gets.

The history is what makes this funny instead of just awkward. McCarthy coached Rodgers for 13 seasons in Green Bay, and they won Super Bowl XLV together by beating the Steelers. Now it's McCarthy's first year running Pittsburgh, Rodgers is his quarterback again, and they're out there bickering like nothing changed since 2011. Anyone who watched those Packers teams has seen this movie before.

Mark Kaboly

@MarkKaboly

Steelers win 51-0 ... tomorrow headlines: Rodgers hates McCarthy

That's a joke, by the way. Nobody won 51-0. The point is that the score barely matters, because a hot-mic clip of a 42-year-old quarterback and his old coach cussing each other out is going to get way more play than anything that happened on the field. Clarence Hill Jr. went further, saying Rodgers was trying to show McCarthy up. Then things actually went wrong.

Clarence Hill Jr

@clarencehilljr

Aaron Rodgers going to blame McCarthy for the interception

Awful Announcing@awfulannouncing

Aaron Rodgers: "WHAT THE F*CK?! CALL IT!" Mike McCarthy: "F*cking a**hole." t.co/KOSwfYBL2J

Later in the half, Browns defensive end Sam Williams got a hand on Rodgers' arm as he threw, and the ball fluttered to Denzel Ward instead of Michael Pittman. Cleveland cashed it in right away. Jaleel McLaughlin ran it in from 28 yards out to tie the game 7-7.

ProFootballTalk

@ProFootballTalk

Browns convert Aaron Rodgers’ INT into TD. t.co/KwltkpdQaa

To be fair to Rodgers, a defender hitting your arm mid-throw isn't really on the play-caller. That won't stop the blame game. Already the most watched Steelers story of the season, it's now got a viral clip, a turnover returned for points on the next drive and two guys who have been doing this exact routine since the Bush administration. Pay attention to how both of them answer it at the podium. If Rodgers and McCarthy laugh it off as old married couple stuff, it's gone by Sunday. If either one gets defensive, Kaboly's joke headline turns into a real one.