Behind the Steel Curtain
In one of the crazier back-and-forth games in recent Pittsburgh Steelers history, Pittsburgh overcame two nine-point deficits to come back in the fourth quarter to defeat the New York Jets 34-32. There was a lot of good and a lot of bad put on tape on Sunday, so let’s get into the first Varsity and JV of the regular season.
In his first game as a Steeler, Rodgers was the best player on the field. He threw four touchdown passes, making him the first Steelers quarterback to do so in his debut, and the first Steelers signal-caller to throw four scores in a game since Ben Roethlisberger in 2020. Rodgers finished the game 22-of-30 for 244 yards, and he made all the big throws the Steelers needed him to make.
I mean, good God, man. 60 yards. It would have been good from 70. He’s the best kicker in football by a respectable margin. He’s been the most under-appreciated kicker in the league because of a certain accused creep who is no longer in Baltimore, but now it’s not remotely a question – 9 is the gold standard for kickers.
Metcalf didn’t reach the end zone in this game, but had two very big catches that set the Steelers up for points. On the first drive after a drop, Rodgers came right back to Metcalf on third down, who caught the ball and took it 23 yards. Four plays later, the Steelers scored. On the first play of the second drive, Rodgers threw a screen to Metcalf, who took it 31 yards down the left sideline, which led to a Boswell field goal. He finished the day with four catches for 81 yards, both of which led the team.
The gritty wideout had one catch on the day, but it went for 21 yards and his first touchdown as a Steeler, and the first touchdown of the Steelers’ season. On top of that, he recovered the fumble on the kickoff that led to Pittsburgh going ahead in the game 31-26. A true multi-tool player who does the dirty work, and he got rewarded for it on multiple occasions in Week 1.
Austin had several big catches in this game. On the Steelers’ final drive of the half, he had receptions of 30 and 21 yards, including a terrific contested catch down the sideline that led to Jonnu Smith getting in the end zone. His touchdown reception put the Steelers up 31-26, and he was absolutely instrumental in the Steelers’ offensive success.
Watt didn’t have a sack, but he was constantly in the backfield making plays when no one else in the front seven was. He had five tackles, two of which were for loss, as well as a pass batted down at the line of scrimmage.
What a way to...
