Winners and losers from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 34-32 win against the New York Jets Sunday in their regular-season opener.
WINNERS
QB Aaron Rodgers
Talk about a debut. Behind a shaky offensive line and virtually no running game, Rodgers carried the offense and put the team on his back. Needing points in what became a shootout, Rodgers tossed four touchdown passes, something no Steelers quarterback has done in a season opener since Ben Roethlisberger in 2007. He was accurate, made off-platform throws, executed play-action well, and ran the show with audibles and checks at the line of scrimmage.
In just one game, Rodgers showed more at the position than virtually any Steelers quarterback has in the 53 games since Roethlisberger retired.
WR DK Metcalf & WR Calvin Austin III
Metcalf had an early drop but quickly showed why Pittsburgh made an aggressive move to trade for him. His speed and YAC were on display in the designed screen game and downfield routes. Austin made big plays and continues to transform into more than a speedster. He’s making routine combat catches, including a 30-yard grab that got Pittsburgh down to the goal line. The top two targets today, they made plays.
K Chris Boswell
Boswell continues to be automatic. A 56-yard boot provided first-half points, a kick that would’ve been good from 60. He showed he could make it from 60 with a go-ahead 60-yard boot to put the Steelers up 34-32 with one minute to go.
Pittsburgh didn’t address his contract before the season but he’s on track for a mega payday after season. No one deserves it as much as him.
RB Kenneth Gainwell
Gainwell’s here partially for his usage. Clearly playing ahead of Kaleb Johnson, Gainwell split time with RB Jaylen Warren pretty evenly. His play was just okay, but he forced a key fumble on a kickoff in the fourth quarter, setting up Rodgers’ fourth touchdown pass of the game. Gainwell certainly is set to have a real role in this offense.
WR Ben Skowronek
Skowronek got the Steelers’ scoring started with a 22-yard reception, breaking open over the middle for an easy touchdown. That was his notable offensive contribution but made plays on special teams, too. He recovered Gainwell’s forced fumble and beat the vice to force a fair catch on a punt, creating 55-yard net punt. Hand in the pile, that’s Skowronek.
CB Jalen Ramsey
Ramsey made critical plays late, including a decleat hit to force the final fourth-down breakup and seal the win. That’s why the Steelers traded for him. Pittsburgh’s new additions making immediate impact plays.
LOSERS
Defense
Just put the entire defense on here. There were a couple decent performances but overall, this was a big-time letdown.
Pittsburgh spent all offseason touting how much better its defense had gotten. Bigger, stronger, more physical to handle the running game. None of that showed Sunday. Though the team was without DL Derrick Harmon, the Steelers were bullied by the Jets. Aaron Glenn made sure to set the tone and Pittsburgh simply didn’t answer. No one got off blocks, the d-line didn’t create splash, and New York stayed on schedule throughout the afternoon. It all came easy to New York as Pittsburgh searches for more answers.
The Steelers’ pass rush also had its problems. Missed chances to take Fields down, allowing him to escape and extend plays. Rushing him is hard and maintaining lane integrity is critical but Fields has been sacked at a historically high rate. Even knowing how well the Jets ran the ball, Pittsburgh missed its chances.
The secondary failed to make plays and contest passes. CB Darius Slay gave up a long touchdown to WR Garrett Wilson and Fields looked strong in the pocket. Allowing 32 points wasn’t part of the plan.
Run Game/Broderick Jones
The other side of the trenches weren’t any better. Pittsburgh was one-dimensional and unable to run the ball at any point of the afternoon, forcing Aaron Rodgers to play hero ball and try to win on his own. That’s a unit-wide issue, not one man, and the lack of Jaylen Warren for stretches of the game was a curious decision. But without the blocks in front, it doesn’t matter who is toting the ball.
While it’s been easy to pile on, Broderick Jones struggled all game long. Will McDonald and Quinnen Williams had his number all day in pass protection and the run game, giving up at least one sack if not more. Later, he was cooked on a McDonald spin that led to another Rodgers hit and incompletion (and near interception). Out of the gate, Jones’ critical third season is off to a terrible start.
RB Kaleb Johnson
As noted above, Gainwell spent the day working over Johnson. Johnson hardly saw the field offensively though his one carry resulted in a late-hit penalty on the Jets. Involved as a Steelers kick returner, Johnson fumbled one runback that S Juan Thornhill fortunately jumped on. We warned of Johnson being slow out of the gate and it’s clear he has a long way to go to get involved in the offense.
Fundamentals
Really sloppy game by the Steelers. It might be Week 1 but playing sound is more important when it’s hard to know the opponent’s game plan. Pittsburgh was too penalized pre- and post-snap. That included illegal alignment on an early Jets extra point, one that was missed and re-done. New York went for two and was stuffed. On one fourth down, Pittsburgh came out with 10 men while the offense was flagged for delay of game, turning 3rd and 1 into a failed 3rd and 6.
Special teams were messy. P Corliss Waitman was inconsistent. Kick coverage was shaky, and Pittsburgh missed too many tackles overall. Too ugly for this veteran-laden team out of the gate.
