EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. —There's always a lot riding on Week 1, for every NFL team every year, but that's especially true for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2025.
They say you never get a second chance to a first impression. So what about when your first impression comes against the player that your team shipped out to bring you in? That's the case for both Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields on Sunday.
The Steelers took the unusual step of publicly stating at the start of this offseason that they wanted to bring back one of their two incumbent quarterbacks in Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. They ended up bringing back neither, choosing to pass on the asking price for Fields and then pivoting away from Wilson to Rodgers.
This will be the first time in NFL history that two quarterbacks who were Week 1 starters for the opposite team the previous season will face one another in the opener.
There's always an overreaction to what happens in the first week of every NFL season, but you can bet that both of these teams — and especially those quarterbacks — will be highly motivated to avoid being on the wrong side of some early Monday morning quarterbacking about the offseason quarterback process.
Gameday: Pittsburgh Steelers at New York Jets, 1 p.m .
Pittsburgh Steelers defensive captain Cam Heyward talks to a referee in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Dec. 1, 2024. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
The Steelers are the better team entering their Week 1 game against the Jets. This is true in every week, but especially in Week 1, one of the biggest hurdles is not beating yourself.
In the first week of the preseason, the Steelers came out and played a surprisingly clean game, with few penalties, turnovers and the other kinds of sloppiness that can come with eight months of rust. Then, playing all the same players, they played a sloppy, disjoined mess of a game in their second preseason game. That's how things can go in late August and early September.
The Steelers are the better team. The better team can lose even if it plays well, but most of the time, upsets in the early part of the NFL schedule involve some self-inflicted damage.
Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Broderick Jones during a game against Baltimore Ravenson Nov. 17, 2024. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
Last season, Will McDonald was flying solo, as Johnson missed all but two games with an injury. The 2023 first-round pick out of Iowa State still racked up 10.5 sacks. This year, he has his running mate back, bringing a 1-2 punch that when combined with Quinnen Williams in the middle, makes the Jets pass rush a problem.
The Steelers will answer with Broderick Jones making his first career start at left tackle and Troy Fautanu making his second career start at right tackle. That's a strong pedigree in two first-round picks, but the Jets have a big experience advantage. The Steelers may struggle to keep Aaron Rodgers clean in his return to New York.
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Justin Fields warms up before a game against the Denver Broncos on Sept. 15, 2024. — Alan Saunders / Steelers Now
I'm expecting this game to be a bit an of offensive slog, with the defenses on both sides the superior units. But I think the Steelers are good enough to eventually take a lead. When that happens, I expect them to quickly be able to add to it.
The Steelers did a lot of good things with Justin Fields at quarterback in 2024, but they did so while treating him with kid gloves in a significant way. The Steelers asked Fields to do the very least, and hoped that he could do just enough while not turning the ball over to let the Steelers defense win.
The Jets won't have that luxury, and at some point, I think they'll try to let Fields go make a play, which more often than not over the course of his career, has simply led to the ball going over to the other team.
Steelers 24, Jets 9
🏈 Steelers -3
🏈 Under 37.5🏈 Jaylen Warren
over 17.5 receiving yards
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Saunders' Pregame Primer: Keys to Victory, Bold Prediction, Matchup to Watch for Steelers-Jets
Related Headlines
