Steelers Grind Out W

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers returned to MetLife Stadium to play against his former team, leading the Steelers to a pulsating 34-32 win over the New York Jets.

His first regular season game as a member of the Steelers saw him throw four touchdown passes and lead a game-winning drive that was punctuated by Chris Boswell’s career-long 60-yard field goal with 1:13 remaining.

The defense held in that final minute as Jalen Ramsey broke up a fourth-down pass with a crushing hit on Garrett Wilson and the Steelers opened the season 1-0.

Rodgers finished the game with 22 completions in 30 attempts without turning it over. His passer rating of 136.7 was the 41-year-old’s highest since Nov. 13, 2022.

“It was a crazy game,” said Rodgers. “They got after us at times, but we had some opportunistic plays — the big fumble on the kickoff. There’s a lot of teachable tape out there for us, but when we had to make a drive, we put a drive together.”

The game pinballed back and fourth but became “crazy” in the fourth quarter. After Rodgers’ 5-yard touchdown pass to Jaylen Warren cut the Jets’ lead to 26-24, Kenneth Gainwell forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff return that was recovered by Ben Skowronek at the New York 22. Two plays later, the Steelers took a 31-26 lead on Rodgers’ play-action 18-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Calvin Austin III.

The two touchdowns in 50 seconds gave the Steelers a 31-26 lead, but the Jets drove 65 yards in 12 plays to re-take the lead at 32-31.

After three-and-out punts by both teams, the Steelers gained possession at their own 18 with 3:13 remaining, and Rodgers embarked on the game-winning drive by first passing 10 yards to a diving Pat Freiermuth, followed by a 19-yard pass interference penalty on cornerback Brandon Stephens while covering Austin, and then a ricocheting 11-yard pass to DK Metcalf that put the ball at the New York 41.

The Steelers lost a few yards, but that didn’t deter Coach Mike Tomlin from calling on Boswell, who earlier had kicked a 56-yard field goal. Boswell topped that with a 60-yard game-winner that split the uprights with room to spare.

For Rodgers, it was the 35th game-winning drive of his illustrious career, per Pro Football Reference.

“I love these guys,” Rodgers told CBS Sports. “I love the organization, love them taking a chance on bringing me in and believing in me and giving me the opportunity to be out here with my guys. There’s no greater feeling than being out on the field and being able to compete. That’s what I was thinking about all those days in the offseason, was opportunities like this. Now, I didn’t think it would be against my former team, but really proud of my guys making clutch plays down the stretch.”

Rodgers ended the wild first half with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Jonnu Smith with 32 seconds left to cut the Jets’ lead to 19-17. The touchdown was set up by a 21-yard Rodgers pass to Austin, who rose up to make a back-shoulder catch at the New York 3. From there, Smith jet-motioned right and caught the flip from Rodgers behind the line. He followed blocks by Warren and Freiermuth for the touchdown.

Defenses settled down in the third quarter, but the Jets widened their lead to 26-17 on their second possession with Fields’ 2-yard touchdown sneak.

The Steelers then scored their two touchdowns within 50 seconds thanks to the fumbled kickoff return, and held on with the big plays by Rodgers, Boswell, and Ramsey.

It was the second consecutive game in which Rodgers threw 4 touchdown passes.

On the other side, Fields completed 16 of 22 for 218 yards, a touchdown, and a 119.1 passer rating. He also rushed for 2 touchdowns in gaining 48 yards on the ground. Hall of the Jets led all rushers with 107 yards on 19 carries as the Jets compiled 182 yards on the ground at a clip of 4.7 yards per carry.

For the Steelers, Metcalf caught 4 passes for 83 yards to lead the offensive output.