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Game Preview: Pittsburgh Steelers face must-win game with New York Jets on Sunday

Roger Gonzalez
Pittsburgh Steelers
(© dean bertoncelj – Shutterstock)

The Pittsburgh Steelers aim to move to 2-2 on the season when they host the New York Jets on Sunday. Pittsburgh (1-2) is coming off two straight losses to the New England Patriots and the Cleveland Browns, but they are on extra rest having played on Thursday in Week 3. The Jets, meanwhile, are 1-2 and lost 27-12 to the Cincinnati Bengals in their last game. But Robert Saleh’s team looks to be getting quarterback Zack Wilson back from injury, and he’s expected to play in this one.

Where to watch?

The game will air at 1 p.m. ET on CBS. If not on your local channel, you’ll need access to NFL Sunday Ticket.

What to know about the Jets

They can actually move the ball. They average 370 yards per game – good enough for ninth-best in the league. They also are fifth-best in passing yards per game, but how will Wilson look? Don’t be surprised if he is rusty, and he hasn’t set the league on fire since being drafted No. 2 overall before last season. But he did practice fully on Friday. What will be key is the chemistry between him and Garrett Wilson. The No. 10 pick in this year’s NFL Draft, the Ohio State man has looked sharp so far, and if they can gel early, they can win this one.

What to know about the Steelers

Kenny Pickett time? The first-round quarterback is waiting in the wings for his time to shine, and it might be soon considering how Mitch Trubisky has played. He hasn’t cracked an 82.0 rating and is completing just 60.2 percent of his passing while averaging under 200 passing yards a game. That’s a sign of somebody who just isn’t pushing the field or isn’t being allowed to by offensive coordinator Matt Canada. That lack of going deep has hurt the production of running back Najee Harris as well as he’s got 128 yards on the ground in three games. Something needs to change in this game before some potentially sweeping changes overall.

Prediction

Pittsburgh 20, New York 19

Roger Gonzalez

Roger Gonzalez

Roger Gonzalez is freelancer for Augusta Free Press. A native of Connecticut that grew up in Charlottesville, he is a graduate of Virginia Tech. He currently is a sportswriter with CBS Sports and has written for The Daily Progress, The Roanoke Times and other newspapers before getting into the digital sports journalism world.