With the Pittsburgh Steelers’ win over the Carolina Panthers Thursday, their preseason slate is now complete. Ahead of them is a short time off before they get back to work against the New York Jets in Week 1. DraftKings Sportsbook has already set the odds for that game, with the Steelers being favored by three points.
Steelers are currently 3-point road favorites over the Jets in Week 1, per DraftKings #Steelers #NFL
— Steelers Depot 7⃣ (@Steelersdepot) August 22, 2025
This should be a fun game, one that has all sorts of storylines. Two of the biggest ones involve each starting quarterback. Aaron Rodgers is leading the Pittsburgh offense, and he’s facing a New York team that severely underperformed with him at the helm over the past two years. Rodgers has voiced his displeasure with the way the Jets’ new regime went about letting him go, so there should be plenty of motivation for him. Glenn also appeared to take a shot at Rodgers recently when complimenting Fields.
Speaking of Fields, he’s in a unique position as well. His tenure in Pittsburgh was nothing like Rodgers and New York. However, he could certainly carry some motivation into this meeting. He started on short notice when Russell Wilson had a calf injury last year, and got the Steelers out to a 4-2 record. Despite that, he barely saw the field again once Wilson returned. Now, he finally has a chance to lead his own team and will want to get off to a good start, while maybe proving his former team wrong in the process.
Aside from just that, there should be plenty of fun matchups to watch. Jalen Ramsey, Darius Slay, or Joey Porter Jr. could all match up against Garrett Wilson. On the other sides of the ball, DK Metcalf and Sauce Gardner should provide some entertainment. The Jets have some talented defensive lineman that could test the Steelers’ offensive line as well.
The sportsbooks seem to believe in the Steelers’ chances against the Jets. However, they remain unimpressed with the Steelers’ overall potential this year.
The 8.5 win total feels low. Especially when the Steelers won 10 games during each of the past two years with rosters that feel less talented than this one. They managed to reach that total last year despite losing their final four regular season games. Now, they should be improved at quarterback, defensive line and in the secondary. It’s hard to find spots that got worse on the roster, and winning eight games or less feels unlikely.
Pittsburgh has a tough end to its schedule. They need to get out to a strong start, and DraftKings thinks they will against New York.
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