The Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Jets are two teams heading in opposite directions this season. The Steelers are still looking for their first win in what has been a nightmarish season thus far, while the Jets have ridden a rookie quarterback to a 3-2 record and feel confident another win on the schedule will be tacked on today.
The Jets surprised everyone on MNF six days ago when they upset the Atlanta Falcons in a 30-28 shootout. The win was more impressive considering the Falcons had scored the go-ahead touchdown with less than two minutes left on the clock in the fourth quarter. That’s when rookie quarterback Geno Smith took over and had the best drive of his career. Watch Steelers vs Jets free live online streaming on Fox instructions are available via the link below.
Smith took the ball and marched his offense down the field with the game on the line, completing four consecutive passes and leaving the Falcons defense guessing. Smith also used his legs on an eight-yard scamper, and got the Jets close enough so that Nick Folk could knock though the game-winning field goal as time expired.
While Smith’s passing yardage in that big win wasn’t spectacular at 199, his effectiveness was exactly what the Jets need from him. Smith completed 16 of 20 passes and threw a total of three touchdown passes. Coach Rex Ryan will take that performance any day of the week.
Unfortunately for the Jets, they will be without one of Smith’s top receiving targets for today’s game against the Steelers. Tight end Kellen Winslow has been suspended four games for not adhering to the NFL’s performance enhancing substances policy. The suspension came down Friday, so all of Winslow’s work with the first team offense over the course of the week was for not.
After starting the season a pitiful 0-4, the Pittsburgh Steelers were gifted a bye-week last week to hopefully, for their sake, get their act together. Super Bowl-winning quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been a shell of his former self, and the team as a whole has not been performing at the level we’re accustomed to seeing them perform at for the past decade.
The most amazing stat about the Steelers is that their defense has yet to force a turnover in four games and has only recorded four sacks, yet they rank 10th in the league at yielding 321.8 yards per game. It doesn’t really make much sense, though truthfully neither does their losing record. The Jaguars stinking are to be expected. The Steelers are not.
Pittsburgh will get a potentially huge boost today with the return of rookie running back Le’Veon Bell. I had him pegged to have a big year before he went down due to injury in week 1. In that game against the Vikings, Bell ran for two touchdowns and 57 yards off 16 carries. If he can put the ball in the end zone then a lot of pressure will be lifted off Big Ben’s shoulders to force passes and turn the ball over, something he has done a lot of lately.
This morning’s (or afternoon depending on where you live) NFL Sunday football game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Jets starts at 1pm EST / 10am PST and will be televised on Fox (check your local listings). Online live stream coverage can be found at DirecTV with Max here, though it is not free and a subscription is required to watch. A free live audio broadcast of the game is available to listen to on Fox Sports Radio.
The Jets are at home and coming off a huge emotional win, while the Steelers are getting an emotional lift with their stud running back returning. This game seems like a coin flip, but I’m going to pick the home team Jets to win and push their record to 4-2 while the Steelers fall to a dismal 0-5.
