Even with Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers generating his 28th career four-touchdown, no-pick game, Pittsburgh’s ability to avoid an 0-1 start came down to kicker Chris Boswell’s ability to nail a 60-yard field goal to win the game by two points.
It looked like it would have made it through the uprights from 70. After the game, I asked Boswell how far he thinks the kick would have been good from.
“Honestly, I have no idea,” Boswell said by phone from the team plane. “I hit it pretty square, and so I knew there was no distance lacking. I saw it down the middle and then I just turned away from it. I didn’t watch it.”
He didn’t need to. He knew that he’d nailed another long kick, when his team needed it.
It was the second straight season opener in which Boswell hit multiple field goals from 56 yards or longer in a Pittsburgh win.
Given Boswell’s range and Rodgers’s ability to get the offense there, Boswell could end up being the difference more than a few times for Pittsburgh in 2025.
The Jets lost to their former quarterback, but they feel good about the play of their current quarterback.
Justin Fields went throw-to-throw with Aaron Rodgers, completing 16 of 22 passes for 218 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for two touchdowns.
Fields became only the third quarterback in team history to rush for two touchdowns and throw for one in the same game, joining Mark Sanchez (2011) and Josh McCown (2017).
“I don’t think a lot of people expected us to come out like that,” Fields said, via Rich Cimini of ESPN.
The Jets gained 394 yards and scored 32 points, a point total it took Rodgers 14 games to reach last season, and the Jets did it against one of the best defenses in the NFL.
"[The Steelers] acquired all these guys this offseason, future Hall of Famers on that side of the ball, and we put up 32 and there were still plays that were left out there,” Fields said. “All we have to do is keep building, keep getting better and we’ll be good.”
Jets coach Aaron Glenn called Fields “outstanding.”
Still, the loss had to sting for Fields, who started six games for the Steelers last season before he was benched for Russell Wilson.
“He brings a sense of calm,” running back Breece Hall said. “He never gets too high, never gets too low. I’m hurting for him. Obviously, you never want to lose to your old team or whatever, but I think he commanded the offense, had control of the offense, and he was a great leader for us today.”
Two years after Aaron Rodgers played only four snaps in a Week 1 game at MetLife Stadium, he played the entire game — and threw four touchdown passes.
His four-TD, zero-interception game was the 28th of his career. That ties him with Tom Brady for the most in NFL history.
Rodgers also has 35 games with four or more touchdown passes. That ties him with Peyton Manning for third most in league history.
Today’s performance pushes his all-time TD/INT ratio to 507 and 116. That’s the best in history. Today, it got a little better.
It still wasn’t easy to get the win. But for kicker Chris Boswell’s 60-yard bomb, the Steelers would be 0-1.
When the Jets traded for quarterback Aaron Rodgers in 2023, they envisioned a lot of days like the one Rodgers had at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
The problem was that Rodgers was wearing a Steelers uniform. He tore his Achilles four snaps into the 2023 season and struggled during a dismal 2024 campaign, which led the Jets to move in a different direction at quarterback after hiring head coach Aaron Glenn this year.
Justin Fields was their choice, and he played well on Sunday, but the Steelers won 34-32 as Rodgers threw four touchdowns over the course of the afternoon. After the game, Rodgers was asked if he took particular satisfaction in beating Glenn, who delivered the message that his services weren’t wanted with the Jets.
“I was happy to beat everybody associated with the Jets,” Rodgers said in his postgame press conference.
Rodgers had downplayed Sunday’s game as just one of 17 in the days leading up to kickoff, but Week 1 often sets the tone for a season — and Rodgers was able to do just that against his former team.
The Steelers spent a lot of money and draft picks bringing in new players this offseason, but it was a longtime member of the team who delivered the game-winning points against the Jets on Sunday.
Chris Boswell nailed a 60-yard field goal with just over a minute left to play, and the Steelers held on for a 34-32 win in Week 1. Boswell crushed the kick, and it looked like it would have been good from quite a bit farther had the Steelers needed that much leg.
The Steelers still had to stop the Jets one more time, and one of the new faces came up with a big play to ensure it. Cornerback Jalen Ramsey dislodged the ball from Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson on fourth down to put the final nail in the coffin.
Another newcomer had a big day on offense. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw four touchdowns while going 22-of-30 for 244 yards in his reunion with the team he played for the past two seasons. He was sacked four times, and the Steelers never found much success on the ground, but the offense still featured four catches for 83 yards from wide receiver DK Metcalf and plenty of positives to build on moving forward.
The defense has some room to improve, though. The Jets ran for 182 yards, and Justin Fields went 16-of-22 for 218 yards and a touchdown against his former team. Those results will be encouraging for the Jets despite the loss, but with the Bills coming to town next week, they’ll need to make their own defensive adjustments to avoid an 0-2 start.
The Steelers will host the Seahawks in Week 2, and the home crowd should be in good spirits after Boswell’s late heroics.
