Davante Adams changes nothing for spiraling Jets in embarrassing loss to Steelers

PITTSBURGH — OK Woody, now what?

Jets owner Woody Johnson has made dramatic moves after the last two Jets losses but nothing is working. The Jets lost their fourth straight game on Sunday night, this one a 37-15 loss to the Steelers at Acrisure Stadium.

The loss drops the Jets to 2-5 and desperation time has arrived before Halloween for the Jets. In a year when they entered the season with Super Bowl aspirations, they are now clinging to very slim playoff hopes.

This comes after Johnson fired coach Robert Saleh two weeks ago following a loss to the Vikings in London and one week after the Jets traded for wide receiver Davante Adams following the loss to the Bills.

Maybe Johnson can coax Joe Namath out of retirement this week.

The game swung with 1:15 left before halftime when Aaron Rodgers threw an interception with the Jets leading 15-6. The Steelers turned that pick into a touchdown and the first of 31 unanswered points.

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“That game, especially that second half, that’s not who this team is,” interim coach Jeff Ulbrich said. “That’s not good enough and that starts with me and the coaching staff and it goes down to every single player on this team. We can all give more and we will give more. We have what we need. That is not who we are.”

The arrival of Adams did not have much impact for Rodgers and the Jets in his first game. Adams had three catches for 30 yards on nine targets in the game. Rodgers threw two interceptions in the game and the Steelers turned both into touchdowns, although the second bounced off Garrett Wilson’s chest. Rodgers was 24 of 39 passing for 276 yards with one touchdown.

“The energy for whatever reason at halftime was a little flat,” Rodgers said. “I felt like it was flat before the game, too. I have to look at myself and what I can do to bring better energy.”

Russell Wilson made his first start for the Steelers and after some early struggles, he found his stride and the Steelers scored 31 unanswered points in the win that improved the Steelers to 5-2. Wilson was 16 of 29 passing for 264 yards and two touchdowns.

It felt like the Jets were in total control of the game for much of the first half. Touchdowns by Breece Hall and Tyler Conklin, plus a two-point conversion had the Jets up 15-6. The Steelers offense struggled to move the ball early.

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Then, Rodgers threw his first pick.

Rodgers tried to hit Garrett Wilson across the middle and instead Steelers rookie cornerback Beanie Bishop Jr. made a beautiful interception of the pass and the Steelers took over at their own 46.

Russell Wilson took advantage of the turnover, throwing a deep ball toward George Pickens that drew a pass interference penalty on Sauce Gardner and moved the ball 29 yards to the Jets 11. Two plays later Wilson hit Pickens for a touchdown over Brandin Echols in the back corner of the end zone to make it 15-13 heading into halftime.

“In these games, you can’t give up those plays because it’s just a huge shift in momentum,” Ulbrich said. “If you do make them, you’ve got to fight your ass off to [bleeping] fix it. We didn’t do that well enough today.”

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The Jets got the ball to start the second half but punted after four plays. The Steelers drove down the field with a 37-yard pass to Pickens and then a 21-yard pass to tight end Pat Freiermuth. The Steelers made it to the 3 but then stalled out and Boswell kicked a 21-yard field goal to give the Steelers a 16-15 lead with 7:49 left in the third quarter.

Rodgers then threw his second interception of the game, this one was not really his fault. The ball bounced off Garrett Wilson’s chest and into the arms of Bishop again. He ran to the 1-yard line where Adams tackled him from behind.

“I’ve got to catch the damn ball,” Wilson said. “I’m playing like s–t right now. I’ve got to fix it. I don’t take it lightly. I feel like that is the reason we lost the game at the end of the day. That s–t can’t happen, can’t happen. Just a terrible play.”

On their first play, the Steelers scored a touchdown on a 1-yard sneak by Russell Wilson with 7:22 to play in the third quarter.

The Jets had a scoring chance late in the third quarter, moving the ball all the way to the Pittsburgh 18 on a drive that included a fourth-and-1 conversion. But Greg Zuerlein’s 35-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Dean Lowry.

Another scoring chance died on the Steelers 25 with a batted down pass.

The Jets now head to New England to face the Patriots on Sunday searching for answers to end this slump. They got good news before Sunday’s game with the edge rusher Haason Reddick ending his holdout. He is expected to join the Jets Monday.

“We added two big-time players to the locker room,” Rodgers said of Reddick and Adams. “One’s here. One’s coming Monday. So, everything is still right in front of us. We’ve got to somehow keep the belief in the locker room and start a run. You can’t win 10 in a row unless you win the first one.”

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