With the New York Jets leading 15-6 and trying to put more points on the board with a two-minute drive at the end of the first half, Pittsburgh Steelers rookie CB Beanie Bishop Jr. came through with the biggest play of his career. He intercepted Aaron Rodgers with 1:15 left in the first half, which set up a Steelers touchdown drive that cut the lead to 15-13 at the half. Rodgers said after the Steelers’ 37-15 win that his interception “changed the entire energy” of the game and turned it in Pittsburgh’s favor.
“It was a bad throw. I should’ve just dumped underneath it,” Rodgers said in his postgame presser via the Jets’ YouTube channel. “For whatever reason, just changed the entire energy, changed the game.”
The Steelers outscored the Jets 31-0 after the interception, so it no doubt turned things in Pittsburgh’s favor. Bishop picked off Rodgers again in the second half, and his return to the 1-yard line set up Pittsburgh’s second touchdown of the game. The Steelers would tack on two more in their 37-15 win.
“I felt like once we started the game, we had good energy, and then that shitty pick I threw, I feel like the energy just kind of dropped off, for whatever reason,” Rodgers said.
The Jets could’ve added to their two-score lead and put the Steelers in a big hole heading into the half. Instead, Pittsburgh went into the locker room with just a two-point deficit, and after getting a stop to open the second half, the momentum had swung fully in its favor. The late score before the half gave the Steelers some hope after a lackluster offensive performance for the majority of the first two quarters. Bishop stepping up to make the play seemed to sink the Jets, and when he got another interception off a dropped ball from Garrett Wilson in the second half, the Steelers had every bit of momentum.
While Rodgers blames himself for the throw, it was a good play by Bishop, snagging the pick with one hand. It wasn’t a great throw by Rodgers, but it wasn’t all that bad, either, and it’s a play that could’ve been big for the Jets had Bishop not made a nice play. Garrett Wilson was in a position to make the catch, and it would’ve brought the Jets into Steelers’ territory with over a minute left to operate in the first half.
But Bishop made the play, and the Steelers took that momentum and ran with it to a blowout victory. Hopefully that momentum can carry over to Monday Night Football in Week 8 against the visiting New York Giants.
