New York Jets (2-4) at Pittsburgh (4-2)
Sunday, 8:20 p.m. EDT, NBC
BetMGM NFL Odds: Jets by 1 1/2
Series record: Steelers lead 20-7
Against the spread: Jets 2-4; Steelers 4-2
Last meeting: Jets beat Steelers 24-10 on Oct. 2, 2022, in Pittsburgh.
Last week: Jets lost to Buffalo 23-20 in New Jersey. Steelers beat the Raiders 32-13 in Las Vegas.
Jets offense: overall (22), rush (30), pass (16), scoring (22)
Jets defense: overall (2), rush (17), pass (2), scoring (7)
Steelers offense: overall (26), rush (9), pass (28), scoring (20)
Steelers defense: overall (8), rush (4), pass (13), scoring (2)
Turnover differential: Jets minus-1; Steelers plus-7.
Jets player to watch
WR Davante Adams. After being acquired from Las Vegas earlier in the week, Adams is reunited with Aaron Rodgers in New York and the two will get the opportunity to re-establish their on-field connection. Adams caught 615 passes from Rodgers for 7,517 yards and 68 touchdowns during eight seasons together in Green Bay. Adams sat out the Raiders’ past three games with a hamstring injury that coincided with his trade request, but he’s now healthy and ready to play.
Steelers player to watch
QB Russell Wilson. The 35-year-old appears to be in line to make his first start with Pittsburgh after missing the first six games with a calf injury. The nine-time Pro Bowler has seen just one series of action in a preseason game since joining the Steelers in March. Yet with the passing game taking a step back in recent weeks under Justin Fields, coach Mike Tomlin is likely turning to Wilson in hopes he can help take the team from good to great.
Key matchup
Pittsburgh’s secondary vs. Rodgers. Sunday night marks the 40-year-old Rodgers’ fourth career start against the Steelers. Rodgers is 2-1 against Pittsburgh, including a victory in the Super Bowl following the 2010 season while playing for Green Bay. Pittsburgh’s defense has been disruptive but also susceptible to passing plays down the field against experienced quarterbacks. Dak Prescott threw for 336 yards against the Steelers two weeks ago and Joe Flacco came off the bench to throw a pair of touchdowns for the Colts on Sept. 29. Rodgers is coming off a season-high 294 yards passing in last week’s loss to Buffalo.
Key injuries
Jets CBs D.J. Reed (groin) and Michael Carter II (back) appear likely to miss the game, leaving New York without two of its key players in the secondary. … The Steelers will be without rookie C Zach Frazier (ankle) and OLB Nick Herbig (hamstring). Pittsburgh is optimistic OLB Alex Highsmith can return after missing three games with a groin injury.
Series notes
The Steelers have dominated the series historically, but have dropped each of their past two meetings with the Jets. It’s telling of the whirlwind nature of the league that New York’s previous visit to Pittsburgh two years ago ended with a 24-20 victory in a game featuring two quarterbacks — Zach Wilson (Jets) and Kenny Pickett (Steelers) — who were considered the future of their respective franchises at the time. Both now play elsewhere.
Stats and stuff
The Jets will play their second game with Jeff Ulbrich as the interim head coach after he replaced the fired Robert Saleh last week. … New York is looking to stop a three-game losing streak and avoid its first four-game skid since losing five in a row last season in Weeks 9-14. … Rodgers came within 6 yards last Monday night against Buffalo of his first 300-yard passing game since throwing for 341 against Chicago on Dec. 12, 2021 — a span of 28 regular-season games. … Rodgers has four TD passes and four INTs in his past two games, including being picked off in each of the Jets’ final offensive possessions. … In 35 career starts on “Sunday Night Football,” Rodgers has 84 TDs — 80 passing and four rushing — with 15 INTs and a 108.1 rating. … RB Breece Hall broke out against Buffalo after a slow start to the season, running for a season-high 113 yards on 18 attempts catching five passes for 56 yards. … WR Garrett Wilson had eight catches for 107 yards and a touchdown, becoming the first Jets player with consecutive games of 100-plus yards receiving and a TD catch since Brandon Marshall had two in a row between the 2015 and 2016 seasons. … The Jets went 1 for 4 in the red zone vs. the Bills. … Will McDonald is tied for second in the NFL with the Giants’ Dexter Lawrence with seven sacks, a half-sack behind Detroit’s Aidan Hutchinson, who’s out for the season with a leg injury. … K Greg Zuerlein missed two of his field-goal attempts vs. Buffalo and has three misses in his past three games. … The Steelers are 32-28 all time on Sunday night but 1-4 in their past five Sunday night games under the lights at Acrisure Stadium. … Wilson is third among active quarterbacks in career touchdown passes (343), trailing only Rodgers (484) and Los Angeles Rams star Matthew Stafford (360). … Wilson will be playing behind an offensive line using its fifth different starting line combination in seven weeks with Frazier out. Ryan McCollum will make his first career start in place of Frazier. … One of Wilson’s goals will be finding a way to spread the ball around to wide receivers not named George Pickens. Pickens has 26 receptions. Calvin Austin is the next-highest receiver on the team reception list with 10. … While Fields appears set to lose the starting job, he made significant strides in six starts, throwing just one interception in 160 attempts. The one pick is the fewest thrown by a Steelers quarterback over the team’s first six games since at least 1970. …. Pittsburgh’s plus-7 turnover margin is tied with Buffalo and the Los Angeles Chargers for second in the NFL behind Green Bay (plus-9). The club’s four red zone takeaways are tops in the league. … The Steelers have yet to allow a point in the third quarter this season. …. Longtime Steelers defensive captain Cam Heyward will tie a club record by playing in his 201st game, pulling even with Hall of Fame defensive back Donnie Shell for most games played by a defensive player in team history. … Pittsburgh OLB T.J. Watt was held without a sack for just the second time this season last week against Las Vegas. Watt did force two fumbles to boost his season total to three, second only to San Francisco LB Fred Warner. … The Steelers will wear the throwback uniforms of the 1974 team that won the franchise’s first Super Bowl.
Fantasy tip
In what figures to be a low-scoring game, it might be worth taking a flyer on Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth, who could potentially blossom if Wilson can be effective in play action, an important facet of first-year offensive coordinator Arthur Smith’s system that Fields struggled to make plays in.
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