EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers made an instant impact in his Steelers debut, leading the offensive on a 10-play, 71-yard opening drive touchdown against the New York Jets . Rodgers capped the drive with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Ben Skowronek .
It marked the first opening drive touchdown for the Steelers since Dec. 2s3, 2023, when Mason Rudolph connected to George Pickens for an 86-yard touchdown against the Cincinnati Bengals .
Following up on the f irst Steelers touchdown , that's the first time they've scored a TD on the opening drive of the season since a 7-yard Willie Parker score against the Houston Texans in 2008.
The Steelers defense gave up a field goal on the Jets opening drive. Following Rodgers' touchdown to Skowronek, Justin Fields answered with a 35-yard touchdown pass to Garrett Wilson to give the Jets a 9-7 lead. Running back Breece Hall was stuffed on the two-point conversion.
Warren Sharp of Sharp Football dropped a mind-blowing stat this offseason, and it was not a good reflection of the Steelers offense in 2024.
"This is REALLY hard to do, sounds almost impossible but … on the Steelers *own* opening drives of games last year, their opponents scored more TDs than the Steelers did," Sharp wrote. "Read that again, 0 TDs scored = Steelers offense (17 games) 1 TD allowed = Steelers QB threw pick-6. Yikes."
Bengals cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt picked off Russell Wilson for a 51-yard touchdown in the Week 13 game. Wilson bounced back, finishing with 414 yards passing and three touchdowns in a Steelers' 44-38 shootout win. Ironically, that was the best performance by the Steelers all year.
The Steelers allowed the most points (112) in the first quarter in 2024, according to Sharp . Despite struggling in the first quarter, the Steelers finished the season eighth in points allowed (20.4).
To say the least, slow starts on both sides of the ball were a major issue for the Steelers last season. That's something that will need to be corrected this upcoming season. The Steelers ranked dead last in first quarter point differential last season (-3.9), according to Matt Williamson of Steelers.com.
Along with not scoring an opening drive touchdown in 2024, the Steelers went three-and-out nine times. They finished the regular season with a streak of six straight games started in that manner.
Alan Saunders contributed reporting from East Rutherford, New Jersey.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Steelers Snap Embarrassing Streak vs. Jets
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