Despite scoring 32 points, the Jets still managed to fall short in their game against the Steelers and Aaron Rodgers.
New York lost 34-32 in Aaron Rodgers’ apparent “revenge game” against the Jets. Despite the loss, even though there are no moral victories, the Jets played a great game.
Head Coach Aaron Glenn, and his new quarterback Justin Fields had impressive debuts for their new organization. Now for Glenn, his defense wasn’t great as Rodgers sliced and diced up everyone in New York’s secondary except Ahmad ‘Sauce’ Gardner who had a good day.
For Glenn though, it’s not just about how his defense looks and that’s why for the most part it was an impressive debut. The Jets came out ready to play from the jump. They looked prepared, disciplined and motivated to attack. New York had zero punts for the entire first half. This team came out hungry and ready to play football.
Something we never saw from the previous regime. That is a massive win for Coach Glenn and a step in the right direction.
As for Fields, It was almost a perfect day for the fifth-year quarterback. He went 16-22 for 218 yards with 48 yards on the ground, and three total touchdowns on the day. Fields looked poised and dialed in. He made on-time throws that we haven’t seen from him. He was comfortable, and ran the offense with confidence.
A big reason for that was because the Jets offensive line was moving people. The Steelers star-studded defensive line had their troubles against New York’s offensive line.
Even after losing Alijah Vera-Tucker for the season, the Jets offensive line still did a terrific job of not only giving Fields time but also creating lanes for the running game. As Breece Hall silenced many doubters on Sunday with an impressive 107 yards on the ground on 19 rushes. Breece was effective for New York all day as was star wide receiver Garrett Wilson. Wilson was by far Fields main target as expected as he brought in seven catches on nine targets for 95 yards including a touchdown. In which Fields hit Wilson deep on a beautiful 33-yard touchdown pass which was the Jets opening touchdown.
So, the offense was playing a great game, they ran the ball effectively as we expected they should be able to, but the big surprise was that Fields was in a strong rhythm in the passing game. It looks very promising for the rest of this season. If New York’s offense can continue this success, they might shock a lot of teams this year.
Despite the offense doing great, the defense came with a mixed-bag. On one hand, the defensive line played a strong game. They got after Rodgers a few times, and the Steelers rushing attack was non-existent all game. Where it went wrong was the secondary. Mainly, their signing from the offseason Brandon Stephens who quite frankly got picked on out there by Rodgers. Besides Gardner, no one on the Jets secondary really stood out. Like Fields, Rodgers was dialed in, and had a great day.
But even with the defensive struggles on stopping the air attack. The Jets still had this game in control to win. They were up 26-24 in the fourth, supposed to get the ball back with their offense rolling. Yet, the Jets always find a way as Xavier Gipson fumbled the kick return. Gipson is a young player who has lived off of that one punt return touchdown from two seasons ago against the Buffalo Bills. Other than that, he has added nothing to special teams. He has made a career off of one play and Glenn needs to make a statement and remove Gipson from special teams.
Don’t get me wrong the Jets had other chances to win this game but that turnover ultimately flipped this game in favor of the Steelers.
New York battled hard, they played a great offensive game. They played well enough to win this football game but the Jets will Jet, and they just find ways to lose a game. The loss has to sting because they were so close, and played so well. For the most part though, I see this game as a positive for New York.
They took a lot of right steps in this game, for once they finally looked well-coached which is a huge positive for signs to come. If their offense can continue to play well and the defense can improve off this okay first game then this season can end up being much more enjoyable then you thought it would be for the Jets.
Only time will tell if this game was an outlier or if the Jets are actually heading in the right direction. We will find out quickly what this team is made of as Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills come to town this next week to play New York.
The Jets play the juggernauts of the AFC East in week two. Not sure if the Jets are good enough to beat Buffalo but, based off week one, I do have a small feeling that just maybe New York can pull off the shocker and get a massive win over the Bills.
