An emotional speech by coach Rex Ryan the night before the game got his Jets in the proper frame of mind to walk away with a 22-17 win in Pittsburgh.
Said Jets TE Dustin Keller of watching the defense try to stop the Steelers on the game’s final drive, “You go through all the possibilities in your mind, and you don’t know whether to be excited or to throw up. I was in between both.”
Ryan wants to see Jets KR Brad Smith in the Pro Bowl as a reward for his two kickoff returns for touchdowns this season.
Jets WR Braylon Edwards had 100 yards on a season-high eight catches.
The Jets snapped their long touchdown-less streak with a bootleg run by QB Mark Sanchez on fourth-and-one from the seven-yard line.
S Ryan Clark and LB James Farrior laid the blame for the Steelers loss at the feet of the defense.
Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger completed 23-of-44 passes for 264 yards and scrambled for 22 yards to keep the final drive alive, but couldn’t get one last completion in the end zone to win the game.
TE Matt Spaeth, who caught a touchdown, had his hands on each of those last two passes, but the Steelers’ replacement for injured starter Hearth Miller wasn’t able to reel them in.
The absence of Miller and S Troy Polamalu had a big impact on the Steelers all day long.
Steelers WR Mike Wallace had seven catches for 102 yards to cross the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in his career.
