The New York Jets will visit the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday night at Acrisure Stadium to wrap up the NFL's Week 7 Sunday slate. To help preview the matchup, Dale Lolley of Steelers.com and John Pullano of NYJets.com chatted about the game.
Steelers HC Mike Tomlin announced Tuesday that QB Russell Wilson would begin to receive first-team practice reps, putting him in line to possibly start over Justin Fields. What would Wilson bring to the Steelers offense that is different from Fields? How do you think each QB would fare against New York's stingy pass defense?
DL: Wilson would bring a play-action threat back to the Steelers offense. Fields has attempted play-action passes at the second-highest rate in the league this season but is averaging just 5.4 yards per attempt. Last season in Denver, Wilson averaged 8.6 yards per attempt on play-action, slightly above the 8.4 yards per attempt he has averaged over his career. He's also a more accomplished deep ball thrower. Just under 12 percent of Fields' throws this season have been deep passes, which is 8th-highest in the NFL. But he has just 15 plays of 20 or more yards passing, which is tied for 17th in the NFL.
JP: If Wilson starts for the Steelers, it will be his first start since Week 16 of last season when he was a member of the Broncos. Coming off a calf injury that sidelined him for the first 5 games, I'd expect some rust. But as for what he brings to their offense, he adds exactly what they lack – explosive passing plays. Over the first six weeks, Justin Fields leads the NFL in percentage of pass attempts that traveled fewer than 9 air yards (54.4%) (min. 100 attempts). Last season, Wilson was fourth in the NFL in percentage of pass attempts that traveled 20-plus air yards (13.4%) (min. 250 attempts). He completed 38% of those throws for 6 touchdowns and 1 interception. The Steelers need a QB who can stretch to field and boost an offense that is middle of the pack in explosive plays. Regardless of who starts, it won't come easy against a Jets defense that has allowed 18 20+ yard passing plays. The Jets secondary, highlighted by All-Pro CB Sauce Gardner and D.J. Reed, have allowed 148 passing yards per game and one 300-plus yard passer since Gardner was drafted in 2022.
The Jets added All-Pro WR Davante Adams to an offense that already features RB Breece Hall and WR Garrett Wilson. The Steelers defense has been the driving force behind the team's 4-2 start. How will T.J. Watt and Co. try to contain Aaron Rodgers and the Jets offense?
DL: First and foremost, stop the run. That's always the Steelers' mantra going into any game. So, the Steelers will work hard to contain Hall on early downs and put the Jets behind the chains to force third-and-longs. The play-calling change last week in New York led to Hall being more involved in the offense. The Steelers will try to minimize the damage created by him.
JP: The Jets welcomed a bounce-back performance from their run game against the Bills in Week 6. Running back Breece Hall carried the ball 18 times for 113 yards and New York rushed for 121 yards, its second-highest total in a game this season. If the Jets can run the ball similarly to how they did against Bufalo, it should open up more opportunities in the pass game to get the ball to the Jets wideouts including Davante Adams. The key matchup will be RT Morgan Moses versus T.J. Watt. Moses, coming off a knee injury that sidelined him in Weeks 4-5, allowed no sacks, pressures or QB hits against the Bills in his first game back. If the Jets struggle to get the run game going, they'll need to get the ball out quickly, and there is no better receiving tandem in the NFL on short routes (9 or fewer yards) than Garrett Wilson and Adams. Last season, both were top 10 (Wilson No. 9, Adams No. 10) in short receptions and top 10 in yards per reception on those receptions (min. 50 targets).
What player on the Jets or Steelers is surging, maybe despite a slow start, and should be part of the opposing team's gameplan as they prepare for Sunday night?
DL: Patrick Queen is coming off his most productive day with the Steelers. He had 13 tackles last week against the Raiders, including one for a loss and was seemingly all over the field. One of three big free agent acquisitions in the offseason for the defense — along with safety DeShon Elliott and cornerback Donte Jackson — Queen had been the one who had been off to a modest start, at least by his standards. But he seems to be settling in. He's also responsible for communication from the sideline, so this will be a big week for him, making sure the defense is aligned properly against Aaron Rodgers. Queen is capable of wrecking a game. He was a second-team All-Pro last season in Baltimore.
JP: Lost in the shuffle of the Davante Adams trade and the recent surge by Garrett Wilson, who has consecutive 100-plus yard receiving games, has been WR Allen Lazard. He is tied for the NFL lead with 5 TDs through 6 games. At 6-5 and 227 pounds, Lazard is a a lethal red zone threat and his relationship with Rodgers makes me think he could see his production go up near the goal line, with a majority of defense's attention going to the league's newest wideout tandem.
