The Steelers have a long history of memorable moments throughout the years, and during the 2025 season we are going to highlight those moments against each week's opponent.
This week, we feature games against the New York Jets.
Steelers 20, New York Jets 17
January 15, 2005
Heinz Field (Now Acrisure Stadium)
It took longer than normal for the Steelers to come out on top in this game, but in overtime it was kicker Jeff Reed who would come through big-time with a game-winning field goal, sending the Steelers to the AFC Championship game.
"What can you say about the game? The first thing that comes to mind is the effort by the New York Jets," said Coach Bill Cowher. "They are a football team. They played hard. They were opportunistic. But we won the game. We are going to have to play a lot better, there is no question about it. We were fortunate. We recognize that.
"Let me say this about our football team, we are resilient, even through everything that took place. There was never anything on that sideline or in that locker room or at halftime, we were just focusing on the next series, the next play and doing what you have to do. We were fortunate but we won the game, and that is what is most important."
The Steelers jumped out to a 10-0 lead courtesy of a 45-yard field goal by Jeff Reed and three-yard touchdown run by running back Jerome Bettis. The defense did their part as well, forcing two punts on the Jets first two drives, and then safety Troy Polamalu ending their third when he intercepted quarterback Chad Pennington.
Returner Santana Moss would do damage for the Jets on special teams, returning a punt 75 yards for a touchdown to tie the game, 10-10.
Splash plays continued to haunt the Steelers when quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was intercepted by safety Reggie Tongue, who returned it 86 yards for a touchdown and the Jets led for the first time, 17-10.
"It was one of those plays where I stepped up in the pocket and probably could have run," said Roethlisberger. "I saw Antwaan Randle El, he cleared a linebacker and looked at me, so I was ready to throw it to him quick. Then he saw the safety coming and tried to go behind the safety, but the safety came up because the ball was in the air. It was one of those things where I tried to do too much. I should have run and got a five-yard gain and kept the drive alive."
The Steelers fought back. Roethlisberger executed a 12-play, 66-yard drive to tie the game, 17-17, when he hit receiver Hines Ward for a four-yard touchdown.
With a final opportunity to win in regulation, Roethlisberger was intercepted by cornerback David Barrett, who returned it to the Steelers 37-yard line.
"As a quarterback, when you have two minutes in a tie game with timeouts left, you love that situation," said Roethlisberger. "It was a miss-read on my part. I thought Plax (Plaxico Burress) was going to go a little higher than he did, but he came flat, which was the right thing to do. I made a mistake and threw it too high."
The Jets moved the ball to the Steelers 24-yard line, bringing on Doug Brien for a 43-yard field goal to end the game. While Steelers Nation held their collective breath, Brien's kick went wide left, his second miss of the day, to send the game into overtime.
After holding the Jets, Roethlisberger would march the Steelers down the field, where Reed hit a game-winning 33-yard field goal, sending the fans into a frenzy.
"It's just great to be able to continue playing," said Ward, knowing the AFC Championship game was up next.
Steelers 24, New York Jets 19
AFC Championship Game
January 23, 2011
Heinz Field (Now Acrisure Stadium)
"Can't wait."
Those two words uttered by Jets linebacker Bart Scott about playing the Steelers in the AFC Championship came during an emotional interview, but they provided a little bit of bulletin board material for some of the Steelers players.
But for linebacker James Farrior, he didn't need a lot of motivation going against his former team.
"We thought it was funny, but we put it on the bulletin board," said Farrior. "Me being a former Jets player, you didn't have to do anything to motivate me. But it was a little bit helpful for the rest of the guys as locker room material."
It was a cold night in Pittsburgh, with game time temperature just 17 degrees and the wind chill 5, but the Steelers heated up fast.
Running back Rashard Mendenhall, who would be the key to the Steelers' offense all day, got the Steelers on the board first with a one-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. But there was bad news too when center Maurkice Pouncey was carted off the field with an ankle injury. The next man up mentality immediately came into play, and all answered.
"The offensive line has done a great job all year," said Mendenhall after the game. "Guys have been going down. Guys had to step up. They controlled the line of scrimmage all day today. Our run game has been successful all year. It just says a lot about those guys."
The Steelers lead grew in the second quarter after a Shaun Suisham field goal, and a two-yard touchdown run by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for a 17-0 lead. Cornerback Ike Taylor sacked Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez, forcing a fumble that cornerback William Gay recovered and returned 19 yards for a touchdown and a 24-0 lead.
And it looked like the Steelers were rolling.
"I remember that game being over when we started," said Farrior. "We jumped out to a big lead. It was pretty much done after that. I remember a slight comeback from them, but most of the game we dominated, especially in the first half."
The Jets got on the board late in the half with a field goal, sending a confident Steelers team into the locker room up 24-3 at the half.
Things changed in the second half when it was the Jets who caught fire. The Jets got the ball to start the second half and drove 90 yards on five plays that was capped by a 45-yard touchdown pass from Sanchez to former Steelers' receiver Santonio Holmes to close the gap to 24-10. The Jets got a safety when Roethlisberger fumbled the snap from center Doug Legursky and then had to fall on the ball for the safety. The Jets got the ball and Sanchez connected with receiver Jerricho Cotchery for a four-yard touchdown pass, cutting the lead to 24-19.
The Steelers got the ball back with just 3:09 on the clock and did what they needed to, moving the chains twice before Roethlisberger was able to end the game by taking a knee three times for the win.
Steelers 31, New York Jets 13
October 9, 2016
Heinz Field (Acrisure Stadium)
It's something Steelers fans have become accustomed to, so when you look at the stats and see that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger completed 34 passes for 380 yards and four touchdown passes, it's just another day at the office.
But it's more than that. On this day, Roethlisberger threw at least four touchdown passes in back-to-back games for the second time in his career. He also had at least four touchdown passes for the 12th time in his career, extending his franchise record. His performance over the Jets was his 48th 300-yard passing game of his career.
Receiver Sammie Coates came out of the gate on fire, with a 72-yard touchdown reception from Roethlisberger to give the Steelers an early 7-3 lead. He finished with six receptions for 139 yards, Coates' first 100-yard receiving game. While Coates, who suffered a cut finger in the game, had some key drops, he rebounded and closed out the game with a five-yard touchdown reception to seal the win.
"He had some great plays," said Roethlisberger. "He had some drops – big drops for us. But he bounced back. And that's the biggest thing. He ends the game making some first down catches, staying in bounds. And then the touchdown, which is a big catch for him. I loved to let him know that my confidence isn't going to waver in him if he has a couple of drops."
The contributions from the defense were plentiful, and held the Jets to just one touchdown.
"We are just playing off of each other," said linebacker Vince Williams. "We have a great team continuity here. Our offense is going to put up points and we are going to go out there and give them the ball back as much as we can. When you have all three phases of the game working like that, it's going to produce wins."
Steelers 37, New York Jets 14
October 20, 2024
Acrisure Stadium
Coach Mike Tomlin didn't hesitate when asked about quarterback Russell Wilson's performance against the Jets on Sunday Night Football.
"I thought he was excellent," said Tomlin.
Wilson finished the night completing 16 of 29 passes for 264 yards and two touchdowns in his first regular season game in a Steelers uniform, after dealing with a calf injury for the first six weeks.
"I thought he got better as the game went on," said Tomlin. "I'm not surprised by that. It's been a while since he played some ball, but I thought he settled in, knocked the rust off, man, and distributed the ball around and played well."
Wilson said it felt good to get back on the field, even if the game got off to a little bit of a slow start for him as he was shaking off the rust. He kept his head steady, knowing things would come around.
"I really believe in being neutral, not being too high, not being too low," said Wilson. "My old mental coach, who passed away a couple years ago, used to always say stay the course. I think coming into this game, we had a couple of things earlier (in the game) that we could have had. I felt like it was playoff baseball out there in the sense of I started off 0-2, but it felt like I was going to get hot. I kept telling Coach, hey, I'm going to get hot here and sure enough we did.
"We did a great job. The guys did a tremendous job up front giving me enough time to make throws. Guys made plays down the field. I think it's just the love of the game. I played so many games and every game is different. Every game has its own story, and every game has different moments in it, and you catch the wave and once you find it, you don't let go."
Wilson connected with receiver George Pickens for five receptions for 111 yards, but he also spread the ball around to seven players, each one who made their own impact.
"George is so talented, he makes it easy on the quarterback," said Wilson. "He knows how to get open. He knows how to make plays, his ability to make contested catches is remarkable. We got a lot of confidence in all the guys we have, man. I think Calvin (Austin III) made a huge play near the end. Pat Freiermuth on the big third downs, we started making some big-time plays and with Van Jefferson getting in the end zone there too.
"When it all works together as one, when the offensive line is doing a tremendous job like they did tonight, I think it's the second straight game for Naj (Najee Harris) going over a hundred plus."
Tomlin is the one who made the decision to go with Wilson as the team's starting quarterback on Sunday, over Justin Fields who led the team to a 4-2 record.
"We are in a tremendous situation where we are," said Wilson. "I think there's a lot of outside noise that makes it seem like it's a negative thing and this rivalry internal and it's not. We just want to win. That's what we're focused on."
With the lights on for Sunday Night Football, the Steelers did just what Tomlin talked to his team about ahead of the game.
They played 'A-player' ball.
It was up and down the roster that 'A-player' ball was on display in the win.
"Nothing like primetime football at Acrisure," said Tomlin. "I'm just really appreciative of the atmosphere and the quality of play. Thought we got stronger as the game went on in all three phases, man. We made plays in all three phases.
"We talked about A-player performance, particularly on stages such as this, primetime television and so forth. I just thought we had a lot of guys that displayed A-player characteristics.
"We're just appreciative of the work that was done to make the night what it was. Hopefully there's growth in this as we move forward, man, but it's good to get a win."
It was all three phases that came through on the night, including special teams that made a splash play when defensive lineman Dean Lowry blocked a field goal in the third quarter. Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick had a blocked PAT in the game, but it was nullified by a penalty for leverage. It's the third straight game the Steelers have blocked a kick.
"We've got a block culture here that we embrace, and we embrace it with our work during the course of the week," said Tomlin. "We've got a lot of guys that put a lot of effort into the techniques that's required to deliver and so I'm just appreciative of that.
"It's pretty awesome. It is significant, and it has been. I'm appreciative."
Rookie defensive back Beanie Bishop, who was undrafted out of West Virginia, had a night to remember against the Jets.
Bishop didn't just have his first career interception, but had two interceptions against Aaron Rodgers, a future Hall of Fame quarterback.
"Can't say enough about young Beanie Bishop," said Tomlin. "That's an awesome evening for him to get his first two interceptions versus a Gold Jacket guy like Aaron Rodgers.
"He's grown in all areas, there's a lot to cover when you're a rookie, but the one thing I'll say about him is he never shrinks. The situations aren't too big for him, and he's learned and he's open to learning. He has good questions. I meet with him every Friday morning as we lean in on situational ball. He's doing a lot of the little things well. He's on a good trajectory."
Bishop's first interception came in the second quarter, when he picked off Rodgers at the Steelers 46-yard line, down 15-6. The offense was able to capitalize, with Russell Wilson engineering a four-play, 54-yard drive that ended with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Pickens, sending the Steelers into the half down just 15-13.
After the Steelers took a 16-15 lead early in the third quarter, Bishop came through again. He intercepted Rodgers at the Jets 42-yard line, returning it 41 yards before getting caught at the one-yard line. Wilson took it in from the one on a quarterback sneak to extend the lead to 23-15.
"He's one of the Hall of Fame quarterbacks," said Bishop. "Got a lot of respect for that guy and just to be able to get not one but two of them off of him is crazy."
Running back Najee Harris had his second 100-yard game of the season against the Jets, with 21 carries for 102 yards and a touchdown.
Harris was relentless all night, turning in his second straight 100-yard performance, on a night that was about a full team effort, especially giving love to his offensive line, who have been hit with injuries all season.
"That's what you want to see," said Harris. "To see GP (George Pickens) get into the end zone. You see Russ (Wilson) in there in the end zone. To see the O-line meshing. They're out there talking too, and they're out there holding each other accountable, that's the main thing. They were out there holding each other accountable.
"This is the O-line. I think that this game offensively should be…the O-line should be more talked about. We're down injuries, we're down guys and it's the next-man mentality and someone always steps up and performs and makes a play. They're all held at the same accountability, so I think that the O-line, going in two weeks now, me personally, I had like 100 yards, and it's all dedicated to them in giving me opportunities. So, shout out to them."
