Jets grades vs. Steelers: Who got the F?

INJURY: D

The first four possessions of the second half ended in a punt, an interception, a missed field goal and downs, a quadruple blow for a team desperate to produce something positive. Even their sustained drives of 11 and nine plays in the second half failed to result in points. Breece Hall scored on a 13-yard run, but his other 11 carries totaled 25 yards. He led the team with 103 receiving yards. Davante Adams was targeted nine times but caught just three passes for 30 yards, so the instant chemistry between him and Aaron Rodgers will take some time to re-establish. . . if it ever actually does.

DEFENSE: F

The Jets let Russell Wilson regain his championship form in his first start for the Steelers, as he completed 16 of 29 passes for 264 yards and two TDs and also ran for a score. There were way too many wide open receivers and way too many broken tackles on the runs. It's hard to blame the defense for a 1-yard touchdown drive like the one the Steelers had in the third quarter after an interception and a return, but at some point they had to stop and couldn't. The Steelers scored on their final five possessions of the game en route to 31 unanswered points.

SPECIAL TEAMS: F

For the third time in four games, the field goal kick hurt the Jets. This time, it wasn't necessarily Greg Zuerlein's fault that his 35-yard attempt in the third quarter was blocked by Dean Lowry with a push up the middle, but it's still on his ledger. The Jets also allowed an extra point to be blocked and were lucky to have the Steelers cautioned for a questionable leverage penalty on the play. Xavier Gipson botched a punt return and fumbled another, both going out of bounds. Isaiah Davis had two poor kickoff return attempts, one slipping at the 26.

COACHING: D

Two weeks later, interim coach Jeff Ulbrich already seems to be out of answers and his frustration is palpable. Even he needs to work on some things; He fumbled with the challenge flag when he wanted the officials to take a second look at a Hall run to the goal line that he believed had reached the end zone and couldn't get it up the field quickly enough to stop the action. . . and nearly ruined a touchdown pass to Tyler Conklin when he actually threw it out. With 15 runs and 40 pass dropbacks and too few attempts on the field, the offensive play is out of balance. Defensively, there were far too many open receivers.

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He was previously a beat writer for Newsday's Giants from 2008.