Game One Preview Part 2: Key Matchups Could Determine Winner Of Jets-Steelers Game

The NFL's game schedulers knew what they were doing in setting up game one between the Jets and Steelers. While the revenge factor for both QBs are top of mind, the key matchups are extraordinary.

The 2025 NFL season kicked off last night with Philadelphia outlasting Dallas, 24-20 at Lincoln Field.

The game included headline-grabbing highlights of Eagles star defender Jalen Carter spitting on Dak Prescott and getting ejected. The team also lost Ben VanSumeren, who was carted off the field on the opening kickoff.

On the upside, QB Jalen Hurts made history: he became the first Super Bowl MVP to throw two touchdowns in the first half of an opening day game for a team that won the Super Bowl the previous year.

The drama will continue this weekend, starting with the Jets-Steelers game at 1 pm Sunday.

The Jets and new head coach Aaron Glenn will have their hands full, with some predicting that Rodgers, given his nasty departure at the hands of Glenn, is motivated to blow them out, reports The Jets Press. The same source just reported that the NFL Power Rankings predict rough sledding for the new HC in his debut year, landing 28th in week one.

What is also intriguing, in addition to the leagues’ pre-planned face off of vengeful quarterbacks, is the matchup at skill positions that could determine the outcome of the game:

Quarterback

The unsettling departure of Aaron Rodgers from the Jets last year means there is likely some bad blood between the team and the hall of famer, despite Rodger’s claim to the contrary.

Now factor in Rodgers getting picked up by the Steelers as QB 1 - and former Steelers QB 1 Justin Fields getting demoted, released and picked up by the Jets to replace Rodgers, and you can expect an epic donnybrook and some excellent TV Sunday, just for the QB duel alone.

Rodgers didn’t play in the preseason and Fields looked uneven at best, so that just fuels the speculation of who will come out on top.

DL versus OL

The Jets say they have a plan for the daunting matchup between rookie OT Armand Membou and Steelers star defensive end T.J. Watt, according to a Jet X Factor report.

But like Mike Tyson famously said, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.

Despite all the accolades given the Jets seventh pick in the 2025 draft, he couldn’t have drawn a bigger challenge than facing Watt in his first game. Watt, a likely hall of famer is one of the leagues’ best pass rushers off the edge.

So what’s the plan?

New offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand is keeping his game plan under wraps. Extra help can be expected in the forms of “an additional tight end, a chip from a running back, or a double-team with a guard,” Jets beat writer Nick Faria reported.

Many outstanding tackles struggle their rookie year before turning it around later in their careers, Faria added, noting any type of positive performance would be a huge morale boost for the Jets going forward.

Center versus DT

A big storyline of this first game for the Jets is what will happen at center now that Guard Alijah Vera-Tucker is lost for the season after tearing his triceps.

The plan is to shift center Joe Tippmann over to replace AVT and line up Josh Myers at center. Myers, brought in from Green Bay is an experienced center and Tippmann is better at guard, so it makes sense. But the big question is how the changes could effect the running game, as AVT is considered their best run blocker

The biggest challenge is the Steelers stout defensive line, including Cameron Heywood in addition to the prodigious Watt.

Myers, ranked 34th against the run will line up nose-to-nose with explosive DT Keeanu Benton, a huge challenge indeed.

An argument can be made that this game will be won or lost in the trenches.