Takeaways: Steelers win over Jets a combo of skill, good fortune

Steel City Underground presents post-game takeaways following each 2025 NFL regular season game that focuses on how the Pittsburgh Steelers performed, key statistics, their opponents and more! 

Pittsburgh Steelers fans can celebrate ‘Victory Monday’ after their team walked into MetLife Stadium, handed the New York Jets a loss, and traveled home victorious. The Steelers won in Week 1 of the 2025 NFL regular season, but there was plenty of takeaways from the game; the pinball-like back and forth partially a result of skill, or lack thereof, with a lot of good fortune.

Steelers run defense suspect

The game plan for the Jets was no secret. Establish the run, run it often, run it down the throat, run it to the outside, and – if that doesn’t work – let Justin Fields at quarterback run it. We talked about the Jets’ plan to run the ball in our scouting report. If we knew what was being advertised, surely the Steelers defense staff were prepared even more to execute a game plan to stop it.

Unfortunately, even the best laid plans can go awry. The Steelers allowed 182 yards of rushing offense on Sunday afternoon on 39 carries. Running back Breece Hall led with 19 carries for 107 yards, but what was more surprising was that Pittsburgh couldn’t corral Fields on 12 keepers that resulted in 48 yards and 2 touchdowns.

“That’s not the standard for our defense,” outside lineback Alex Highsmith said after the game. “We got punched in the mouth…”

The run defense wasn’t just lacking in the center of the line but also on the edges. It wasn’t until the second half of the game that Pittsburgh looked to have figured a few things out. That led to a very close game that easily could have been a loss. For the money the Steelers spent to create a dominating defense, they definitely need to see a better return on investment.

Offensive line could use work, too

For the most part, the middle of the Steelers offensive line held up. That wasn’t the case for the edges in this game. Facing a Jets defensive front determined to shut down Aaron Rodgers, the line allowed four sacks for a loss of 26 yards. The Steelers were also only able to earn 53 rushing yards.

It’s the first game of the season, and we’re aware that several ‘starters’ hadn’t played together outside of training camp… but is that an acceptable excuse?

Arthur Smith may need to make some adjustments in personnel, or add more tight end help, this upcoming week of practice in anticipation for the home opener if he wants to keep from relying on fortune to bail out his offense.

Rodgers showed he can still be clutch

Aaron Rodgers did something a lot of NFL fans did not expect on Sunday: pick himself up, stay composed, be a good teammate, and execute to the tune of four passing touchdowns. With all the outside noise – including rumors about him not getting along with his new offensive coordinator, which he addressed after the game with a CBS on-field reporter (he said it isn’t true) – Rodgers didn’t lose his cool, didn’t berate teammates, and showed he can still show up in clutch moments.