All summer long, nobody associated with the Steelers wanted to talk about the Baltimore playoff debacle back in January, the one in which they were gashed for 299 yards on the ground.
Well, welcome to the nightmare's sequel in the very next game.
Breece Hall ran for 107 yards, old friend Justin Fields for 48 more and the Jets totaled 182 in brutally burying any and all of the preseason hype about the Pittsburgh defense -- Mike Tomlin had suggested they could be "historic" -- and, even though the Steelers prevailed, 34-32, this afternoon at MetLife Stadium in both teams' NFL season opener, that'll no doubt define the way this one went.
Aaron Rodgers was terrific in his debut, completing 22 of 30 passes for 244 yards and four touchdowns, to Ben Skowronek, Jaylen Warren, Jonnu Smith and Calvin Austin. And 17 of those were points put up in the fourth quarter, including Chris Boswell's career-high 60-yard field goal with 1:03 left to win it.
Fields also completed 16 of 21 passes for 218 yards and a touchdown.
DeShon Elliott (knee) and Malik Harrison (knee) were injured.