Welcome home, Aaron Glenn.<\/p>\n
Now, enjoy this crushing loss in your first game as Jets head coach.<\/p>\n
If Glenn needed any reminders of this franchise\u2019s tortured history, he was given a refresher on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n
Aaron Rodgers, cut by Glenn and the Jets back in March, threw four touchdown passes in his return to MetLife Stadium, and Chris Boswell\u2019s 60-yard field goal with 1:03 left was the difference in the Jets\u2019 heartbreaking 34-32 loss to the Steelers. One killer turnover and multiple penalties at bad times contributed to this gut punch of a loss that saw the Jets blow a pair of nine-point leads.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s something that will be addressed,\u201d Glenn said. \u201cYou will not be on the field with this team if you\u2019re gonna cause us to lose games, you\u2019re gonna cause issues like that. We will get that addressed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers celebrate during win over Jets on Sept. 7, 2025. Robert Sabo for NY Post<\/p>\n
The setback wasted a terrific day from quarterback Justin Fields (218 yards passing, three total touchdowns) in his Gang Green debut and a strong overall performance from the offense, which ran for 182 yards, 107 coming from Breece Hall. The Jets didn\u2019t punt in the first half of the opener for the first time since at least 1991.<\/p>\n
Still, Fields and Co. came up short late. The Jets managed just 12 yards in their last two possessions. First, with a chance to run out the clock after the defense got a rare stop, then to get into field goal position.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to go back to being at our best when it\u2019s required,\u201d Garrett Wilson (seven catches, 95 yards, one touchdown) said. \u201cWe got to finish the game, we got to find a way to win. \u2026 You don\u2019t find a way to finish the game, get points to put it away, or get points to win the game, those are the ones that are going to weigh on you at night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Justin Fields during his Jets debut against the Steelers on Sept. 7, 2025. Robert Sabo for NY Post<\/p>\n
The Jets had one last chance with 25 seconds left on fourth down from their own 38-yard-line, but Fields opted not to run despite having room. He connected with Wilson, but Wilson was crushed on the play by Jalen Ramsey, dislodging the ball.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Rodgers had a fantastic day. The Jets defense was shredded by him for 244 yards and four scores.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s unacceptable,\u201d Sauce Gardner said. \u201cUs as a defense, we just have to be better. Us as a back end, we don\u2019t want to happen \u2014 we can\u2019t let that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Later, he added: \u201cFor them to put that many points up, that\u2019s depressing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aaron Rodgers was sacked during his return to MetLife Stadium on Sept. 7, 2025. Bill Kostroun for New York Post<\/p>\n
In the span of 50 seconds early in the fourth quarter, the Steelers reeled off 14 points, aided by a Xavier Gipson fumble on a kickoff return. Both drives ended with Rodgers touchdown passes. He looked to have something left at the age of 41, at least on Sunday.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI was happy to beat everybody associated with the Jets,\u201d Rodgers said, twisting the knife.<\/p>\n
Fields came right back after those 14 unanswered points, leading the Jets on a 12-play, 67-yard drive that he capped with a 1-yard keeper on 4th-and-goal to reclaim the lead. There was still 7:01 remaining, an eternity for Rodgers.<\/p>\n
Justin Fields joined the Jets in the offseason. Bill Kostroun for New York Post<\/p>\n
Justin Fields greets Aaron Rodgers following the Steelers\u2019 Week 1 win over the Jets. Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
A Quincy Williams sack forced a three-and-out, but the Jets couldn\u2019t ice it, giving Rodgers another shot. He led the Steelers on a game-winning drive that included a 19-yard pass interference penalty on Brandon Stephens and a fortunate 11-yard grab by DK Metcalf. The star receiver had a pass deflect off his hands twice and yet he still came down with it. Otherwise, the Steelers may not have gotten into field goal position.<\/p>\n
There was still a lot to like for the Jets, even in defeat. The offense performed, equaling the most points it scored in a game last season. The defense held the Steelers to 53 rushing yards, making them one-dimensional. Eliminate a few costly mistakes, and everyone is going home happy. But the Jets, particularly their new coach and young leaders Gardner and Wilson, weren\u2019t taking any solace from this performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a sore loser,\u201d Gardner said. \u201cMoral victories breed losing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome home, Aaron Glenn. Now, enjoy this crushing loss in your first game as Jets head coach. If…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141055,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[7144,5702,349,1321,99],"class_list":["post-141054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-aaron-rodgers","tag-new-york-jets","tag-nfl","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141054\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}