All the good vibes, all the thrilling plays, all the impressive statistical performances were not enough to assure a season-opening victory for the Jets.
"There are not any moral victories in this league," QB Justin Fields said.
Fields and the Jets offense did all they could to bring first-year HC Aaron Glenn his first victory as the man in charge. In the end, it all came down to Pittsburgh's late fourth-quarter drive that culminated in Chris Boswell's career-best 60-yard field goal with 1:08 to play in the Steelers' 34-32 win at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
"This was a game that, man, it was back and forth, a lot of fighting," Glenn said. "I thought offensively, we did a lot of good things that we can build on."
The offense came out running, literally, on all cylinders and in the end finished with nearly 400 total yards (394), using a smart gameplan authored by OC Tanner Engstrand. Breece Hall carried 17 times for 107 yards (5.6 per carry) while Fields ran 12 times for 48 yards and 2 TDs. Fields played a steady game throwing the ball, completing 16-of-22 passes for 218 yards (a 119.1 rating), which included a 33-yard TD pass to Garrett Wilson, his college teammate at Ohio State. Overall, Wilson grabbed 7 passes for 95 yards (13.6 a catch).
It was a seesaw affair throughout that featured 10 lead changes.
"But within a game, all the lead changes you got to expect," Fields said. "It's like ... I'm kind of expecting them to score, so it's like, yo, if they score or not, I'm ready to go. And, you know, that's the mindset that I pretty much had all game, it's football, you know you're going to take punches, you're going to punch. And that's just how this game is, especially when two good teams go at it. So you can't let any of that faze you, just got to keep going out there and driving the ball down field."