Steelers Now
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers made an instant impact in his Steelers debut, leading the offensive on a 10-play, 71-yard opening drive touchdown against the New York Jets. Rodgers capped the drive with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Ben Skowronek.
It marked the first opening drive touchdown for the Steelers since Dec. 23, 2023, when Mason Rudolph connected to George Pickens for an 86-yard touchdown against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Following up on the first Steelers touchdown, that’s the first time they’ve scored a TD on the opening drive of the season since a 7-yard Willie Parker score against the Houston Texans in 2008.
The Steelers defense gave up a field goal on the Jets opening drive. Following Rodgers’ touchdown to Skowronek, Justin Fields answered with a 35-yard touchdown pass to Garrett Wilson to give the Jets a 9-7 lead. Running back Breece Hall was stuffed on the two-point conversion. The Jets decided to go for two after an illegal formation penalty on the defense on Folk’s point after attempt, which was no good.
Warren Sharp of Sharp Football dropped a mind-blowing stat this offseason, and it was not a good reflection of the Steelers offense in 2024.
“This is REALLY hard to do, sounds almost impossible but … on the Steelers *own* opening drives of games last year, their opponents scored more TDs than the Steelers did,” Sharp wrote. “Read that again, 0 TDs scored = Steelers offense (17 games) 1 TD allowed = Steelers QB threw pick-6. Yikes.”
Bengals cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt picked off Russell Wilson for a 51-yard touchdown in the Week 13 game. Wilson bounced back, finishing with 414 yards passing and three touchdowns in a Steelers’ 44-38 shootout win. Ironically, that was the best performance by the Steelers all year.
The Steelers allowed the most points (112) in the first quarter in 2024, according to Sharp. Despite struggling in the first quarter, the Steelers finished the season eighth in points allowed (20.4).
To say the least, slow starts on both sides of the ball were a major issue for the Steelers last season. That’s something that will need to be corrected this upcoming season. The Steelers ranked dead last in first quarter point differential last season (-3.9), according to Matt Williamson of Steelers.com.
Along with not scoring an opening drive touchdown in 2024, the Steelers went three-and-out nine times. They finished the regular season with a streak of six straight games started in that manner.
Alan Saunders contributed reporting from East Rutherford, New Jersey.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Steelers Snap Embarrassing Streak vs. Jets
