Following a 48-28 win that made them look unstoppable, the New York Jets looked anything but that on Sunday as they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had an efficient game, leading the Steelers to a 27-10 win that helped them avoid a 0-2 start on the season. Roethlisberger passed for 275 yards on 24-of-31 attempts and two touchdowns.
"Ben is one of the top in the game," said Pittsburgh wide receiver Mike Wallace, whose leaping 37-yard touchdown grab in the third quarter broke it open. "I'll ride with him against anybody."
The Jets took an early lead following a Steelers field goal on a 14-yard pass to Santonio Holmes to go up 7-3 and later pushed it to 10-6 on a Nick Folk field goal before Roethlisberger and the defense took over.
With just over a minute left in the first half, the Steelers took the lead on a 1-yard touchdown pass to Health Miller and never looked back. In the third Roethlisberger found Mike Wallace for a 37-yard touchdown to go up 20-10.
"That was a backbreaker obviously," New York coach Rex Ryan said. "That was a killer play in the game."
The Steelers did a good job of spreading the ball around, with Roethlisberger finding 10 different receivers in the game, including Wallace, Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown, who had seven catches for 79 yards.
"Nobody can get too upset because everybody is touching the ball," Wallace said. "You're not just getting opportunities to go catch it, (the passes are) coming right on the money."
The Jets had another chance to get back into the game but couldn't get things running smoothly on offense. New York brought in backup quarterback Tim Tebow for a few plays, but lost yards on a Shonn Greene run before punting back to the Steelers.
"We can't get negative plays, it always hurts when you do," Tebow said. "I felt like we had things rolling for a little ... but it's a game of momentum. When you lose it, it's hard to get it back."
Pittsburgh held the ball for as long as they could, going on a 10 minute scoring drive that added a touchdown by Isaac Redman to put the game out of reach.
The Steelers defense was playing without two of its biggest stars, as James Harrison and Troy Polamalu did not play. The Jets were without All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis.
The win made it ten straight home openers for the Steelers without a loss, which is good for the longest active streak in the NFL.
Mark Sanchez was disappointing for the Jets one week after he threw three touchdowns against the Bills. He was only 10-of-27 with 138 yards and a touchdown.
The Steelers next travel to Oakland on Sept. 23, while the Jets play on the road at Miami.
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