Jets Suffer Painful Loss to Steelers in Opener

The Jets had the Steelers right where they wanted them.

New York was up 26-17 midway through the third quarter after Justin Fields scored on a one-yard plunge to put the Jets in the drivers seat. All New York needed to do was stop the Steelers, and an impressive upset win would be within reach.

But, as has been typical of tough luck Jets losses in the past, they let one slip away. A flag was called on Quincy Williams for a late hit out of bounds on Pittsburgh running back Kenneth Gainwell. It would have been a two-yard loss. Instead the flag gave the Steelers 15-free yards. Rodgers led Pittsburgh to a touchdown soon thereafter to cut the Jets lead to two-points, 26-24.

Moments after that, Xavier Gibson bobbled the kick-off return as the ball bounced out of his hands and back into the hands of the Steelers. A couple plays later Rodgers found Calvin Austin for an 18-yard score to give the Steelers a 31-26 lead.

Had those two moments not happened, we are talking about a Jets win.

To their credit, the Jets came back. Justin Fields engineered a 12-play 67 yard drive that ate up 7:06 off the clock before fields scored his second rushing touchdown of the day. The Jets held a 32-31 lead. They even got Rodgers and Steelers off the field when Williams drilled Rodgers on a sack, but the Jets couldn't move the ball after that.

And when you give Aaron Rodgers a chance, he takes a yard more often than not.

It was a brutal loss. Yes, the Jets played well. Fields was great. Breece Hall was better, rushing for 107 yards on the day. But it wasn't enough. It was the kind of loss we see young teams, with young coaching staffs suffer against good, veteran teams. We have seen this from the Jets in the past too.

Is this same ole' Jets? No. It's not fair to say that, but it still hurt, and it will stick in their craw from the rest of the year.

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