Jets vs Steelers: Three Things To Look For

It’s finally here! The New York Jets are looking to start the regular season at home in MetLife Stadium against the most intriguing opponent on their 18-week Schedule. Not only are the Steelers a team we have an established history with, but in a fascinating sequence of events, we’ve swapped QBs from last year for this week’s matchup. Aaron Rodgers, a man we once considered our savior, is now in Pittsburgh for one last rodeo. Meanwhile, their 26-year-old backup, Justin Fields, is the Jets’ starter, who many feel can become the ‘Franchise QB’ this fanbase has spent the entire century clamoring for.

There are too many juicy threads to dissect them all, but I have to acknowledge that this is also the head coaching debut for Aaron Glenn.  Glenn was drafted by the Jets in 1994 and was a 3-time Pro Bowler for one of the most successful eras in Jets history before being chosen by the Texans in the Expansion Draft and giving them more Pro Bowl play. He’s been a scout for the Jets and then worked diligently up the coaching ranks the last decade before emerging this past offseason as one of the most respected head coaching candidates out there. Some of the Head Coaches he’s worked with include the great Bill Parcells, Super Bowl Champion Sean Payton, and, most recently, Dan Campbell, who turned the Lions from jokes to juggernauts seemingly overnight.

Can AG ascend to the ranks of his former employees? Time will tell, which is why I wasn’t planning on mentioning him too much for this Week 1 Preview. Regardless of what happens in this game, it will merely be a drop in the bucket of Glenn’s coaching career. Let’s specify our focus and look at three things that will significantly impact the outcome of tomorrow’s game and will help us know how confident to feel in our beloved team moving forward this season:

Iconic Bond?

There has been a lot(!) said of Garrett Wilson and Justin Fields’ supposed chemistry due to their years together at Ohio State. Some have even gone as far as to compare it to Ja’Marr Chase and Joe Burrow, who infamously dominated the NCAA en route to a college championship and then breathed life into a dying Bengals franchise and brought them to the Super Bowl in their first year together. I never was a fan of this comparison, and while it’s obvious Fields and Wilson are friends, I never really bought into the concept of on-field chemistry between the two.

Fun fact: CJ Stroud is the only QB who gave Garrett Wilson a 1000-yard season in college. He had the most touchdowns in a season, the most yards per game in a season, and most catches in a season all with Stroud. As a matter of fact, if you compare the two years with Fields vs the one year with Stroud, the numbers are way too close:

	2 years with Fields	1 year with Stroud
Receptions	73	70
Receiving Yards	1,155	1,058
Receiving TDs	11	12
Games Played	22	11

Fields is the QB we have, so we are rooting for him, but in the preseason, the starters played more snaps per game than they ever did in the Saleh era, and we still didn’t get to see this ‘chemistry’. It actually became the first preseason of Wilson’s career that he didn’t record a catch. In previous years, he caught passes from Mike White, Zach Wilson, and caught a touchdown from Aaron Rodgers in the preseason. With his ‘best friend’ Justin Fields, he had zero catches. A few inaccurate balls, a debatable no-call on what could’ve been pass interference, but still zero nonetheless.

What will we see this Sunday from this duo? I spoke with Bleacher Report Contributor Mike Nicastro about his Steelers, and he said Jalen Ramsey will likely follow Garrett wherever he goes. This should be excellent news for Jets fans. If you remember, Wilson has had Ramsey’s number for quite some time now. Facing each other twice last year, when Garrett lined up opposite Ramsey, he cooked him to the tune of  7 catches (on nine targets), 137 yards, and a DPI for nine more yards.

So while the pass rush against Fields should be ferocious, his college teammate will be going against a corner he has consistently dominated in his career. I’m not worried about the targets one bit – Tanner Engstrand is a wise man, so I know he will dial up targets for Garrett – but how many actual catches will Garrett make on Fields’ throws? How many of those throws will be in stride so that Wilson can use his electric jukes to enjoy yards after the catch? These are the two specific things I’m looking for to finally (hopefully) see some chemistry between these college teammates.

Big Sacks?

Another NY Jet who’s received a tremendous amount of hype is Will McDonald IV. With Haason Reddick holding out and Jermaine Johnson tearing his Achilles, Will was suddenly the top pass-rushing option on the team and was played accordingly. Three sacks against the Titans, two sacks against the Patriots, and then, all of a sudden, he was among the leaders in the NFL with eight sacks after seven weeks of football. The NY media and fans alike were ready to give him the Defensive Player of the Year Award, but he would only have one other game with a sack out of those remaining ten.

What happened? I want to think it was the coach who drafted Will back in the first round of 2023 in a bit of a shocker at the time, and had the scheme that catalyzed six sacks in the five games they had together. In the 12 games after that, he had four total sacks, meaning his sack rate with Saleh was 1.2 per game, and then post-Saleh, he crashed all the way to 0.3 per game. This new regime specifically mentioned Will McDonald IV as someone who was being coached differently and was now much more improved as a result.

McDonald had various ailments throughout the last month that limited his availability during the preseason, but he’s a full go heading into this game. The Steelers’ offensive line isn’t the powerhouse it once was and appears to be worse than it was last year. Aaron Rodgers is a cerebral quarterback; he makes quick decisions, he moves well in the pocket, but I have another fun fact: Aaron Rodgers was sacked in every single game of his Jets career.

Is that about his age? Is that about the quality of the Jets’ line during his stint? It’s hard to say definitively, but what’s easy to say definitively is that he can get hit. Even in his last game as a Jet, where he threw four touchdowns en route to a 112.5 Passer rating, he was still sacked three times. Just like the Garrett and Ramsey match, this is a matchup that should be easy pickings for Will if he is indeed the player that fans and Glenn claim him to be. We saw Saleh get six sacks in five games out of Will, and we know Will likes to get sacks in bunches, so if AG really is the superior coach, Will should have no problem getting 2+ sacks on Old Man Rodgers this Sunday.

Of course, if Rodgers knows this and sends Jaylen Warren his way a bunch, that’s worth noting as well. But given the situation and his weight gain, I’d really be bummed to see him walk away without a sack in this game.

Jonnu Smith

I don’t have a clever heading for this one, and this section is simple: can the Jets stop Jonnu Smith? This question might sound crazy, but given how he scored a touchdown each time he faced the Jets last year, it may be worth asking this question after taking a deeper look at things. Smith, who after 7 years of being an athletic backup tight end, was suddenly unleashed in Mike McDaniel’s offense and became a beast last year. After never having 600 yards in a season, he amassed 884 yards on 88 catches and 8 touchdowns last year.

What makes this especially interesting is that Rodgers has been known to use his tight ends quite a bit once they get chemistry. He got Robert Tonyan paid by throwing him 11 TDS in 2020 (T-5th in the NFL that season). Even on the Jets, we saw him get comfortable with Tyler Conklin, which resulted in a touchdown in each of their last two games together as Jets. Smith, even at age 30, is a serious candidate for the most athletic tight end Rodgers has had in a decade, and there isn’t exactly competition for targets.

Mike Tomlin himself mentioned Jonnu Smith when discussing ‘WR2′ during his press conference. Not only that, but he and the aforementioned Mike Nicastro mentioned that Jonnu will be used all over the field – even out wide! Rodgers saw firsthand last year when he scored multiple TDs against the Jets how good he can be. To use Rodgers’ intellect to help dial up looks that he likes with Jonnu seems like a scary proposition for a defense that had no answers last year.

Of course, sacking Rodgers will help, but the Jets won’t be able to sack him all 35+ times he drops back. For the times Rodgers is able to get rid of the ball, Jonnu is a threat after the catch, and he’s a potent weapon in the red zone with sure hands. While I feel good about Sauce continuing his usual lockdown of D.K. Metcalf, I cannot say the same about the plan for Jonnu without knowing what Steve Wilks and Aaron Glenn have dialed up.

Overall, I’m excited to see what happens, and I’m most thankful to watch the Jets play football on my television again. If that iconic bond prevails, Will is in the backfield, and Jonnu is contained, there might be a blowout Jets victory on our hands. I’m here for the ride: let’s go Jets!

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