New York leans on its ground identity while Pittsburgh players admit lapses, with Patrick Queen saying, “We played like absolute trash.”
by Bo Marchionte
@bomarchionte | College2Pro.com
Published September 8, 2025, 9:29 PM
PARISPPANY, N.J. – If there’s one thing the New York Jets want to establish on Sundays, it’s the run. That’s their identity, their bread and butter. With Breece Hall powering through defenders and Justin Fields bringing his dual-threat ability, the Jets’ ground game places an enormous amount of stress on opposing defenses. You can know it’s coming, build a plan to stop it, and still find yourself getting gashed.
That’s the position the Pittsburgh Steelers found themselves in during Sunday’s showdown. New York rolled up 394 total yards of offense a mark they only surpassed four times all of last season while leaning heavily on Hall and Fields. For Pittsburgh, the result was a mixed bag: not close to shutting down the Jets’ rushing attack, but at least able to limit it enough to survive.
Head coach Mike Tomlin was blunt about the challenge.
“In some areas, we weren’t good enough in the running game, particularly the RPO running game,” Tomlin said. “We didn’t put enough pressure on Justin on the offensive side of the ball.”
It was the message from players and Tomlin on rectifying the issues that plagued the Steelers defense last season. However, the Jets are built to punish opponents with their run game.
Defensive lineman Isaiahh Loudermilk acknowledged the difficulty of facing the Jets’ run-first philosophy.
“Props to them, props to Breece Hall. He’s a great back. They got a great one-two punch back there, great O-line,” Loudermilk said. “But at the same time, once we go dissect this film… you don’t want to see that, even against a great running back. You try your best to not let great players beat you, especially when you know they’re great players. We built a scheme, we built a plan around them, which we did, but they were able to gash us.”
And maybe that’s the lesson: sometimes, talented players are simply going to get theirs. Just as Michael Jordan dropping 30 points was inevitable in his prime, Hall finding space and making defenders miss feels unavoidable when the Jets commit to their run-heavy punch. You can anticipate it, scheme against it, and still watch it happen.
It’s the one-two punch, even three with Hall, Fields and Braelon Allen in the mix. Isaish Davis isn’t too shabby. It’s a collection of runners that should cause headaches for all defenses when they’re dialed in.
Pittsburgh was exploited, waking up after watching the Baltimore Ravens collapse against the Buffalo Bills was another demonstration of elite offensive weapons on both sides, causing defenses to look inferior.
The Steelers bent plenty in the first half, giving up big chunks on the ground before a special teams turnover helped swing momentum. “It was a wild first half, back and forth, back and forth,” Loudermilk recalled. “Then we get the turnover on special teams, kind of flips the momentum our way. That’s just how the game is. One big play like that can completely change it. Props to our offense. They did a hell of a job today. It’s fun watching them.”
That’s where linebacker Patrick Queen cut through the noise with raw honesty, pulling no punches about the performance.
“We (the defense) played like shit. I am not going to sugarcoat it, we played like shit and if we keep playing like that, we are going to get our face mashed in,” Queen said. “It’s that simple. I call it like it is, and we played like absolute trash.”
For all the frustration about the yards allowed, Loudermilk said the offense’s performance puts more urgency on the defense to rise to the occasion.
“Seeing what the offense was able to do, that makes us feel great as a defense,” he said. “That makes us want to figure it out even quicker, because we know we can be a special team. As a defense, we’ve got to lock in more.”
So, was Sunday about the Jets proving their offense is for real, or about Pittsburgh still trying to fix the leaks that plagued them in January’s playoff loss to Baltimore? The answer might be somewhere in between. What’s clear is that the Jets will keep running it, and the Steelers still have work to do to prove they can stop it.
Photo Credit Frank Hyatt/College2Pro.com
