Two backbreaking mistakes — a turnover and a penalty — sunk the Jets.
Aaron Glenn has no tolerance for either.
Xavier Gipson’s fumble and Brandon Stephens’ pass interference penalty paved the way for two go-ahead scoring drives for the Steelers.
“The one thing to me that turned this game, man, we can’t have turnovers,” Glenn said after the 34-32 season-opening loss to the Steelers Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium. “We can’t do it. We have to be a more disciplined team. There were some penalties that happened in that game that were true discipline issues. That’s something that will be addressed. You will not be on the field with this team if you’re gonna cause us to lose games, you’re gonna cause issues like that. We will get that addressed.”
The Steelers scored at the start of the fourth quarter — on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers to Jaylen Warren — to cut their deficit to 26-24.
Then Gipson fumbled on the subsequent kickoff return after being hit by Kenneth Gainwell.
Pittsburgh took over at the Jets 22-yard-line and needed just two plays to score — Rodgers connected with Calvin Austin III for an 18-yard touchdown pass.
It gave the Steelers a 31-26 with 14:07 left in the game.
They scored 14 points in just 50 seconds.
“Saw a lane, low-key really got excited, trying to make a play,” said Gipson, who made the team as the returner over undrafted rookie Jamaal Pritchett. “He got a hand in.
“In that position, that particular play, it’s probably the worst time to fumble. A fumble is bad anyways. But I put stress on the defense, put them in a bad position. You can count all the good plays or whatever happened in the beginning, but that was the main play that you gotta secure in that situation.”
Later, after the Jets retook the lead at 32-31, the Steelers got the ball back with 3:13 left in the game.
A defensive stop would have put the Jets in great position to close out with a win.
But on the second play of the drive, Stephens was beaten by Austin, grabbed him and got called for pass interference.
It was a 19-yard penalty that brought the Steelers to their own 48-yard-line.
They needed just 10 more yards before Chris Boswell drilled the game-winning 60-yard field goal with 1:03 left in the game.
“I feel like I was in good position with the ball, getting the arm out,” Stephens told The Post. “Just gotta look at the film, see what the refs saw and get better from it. … That’s a big play for them.”
Glenn preached discipline and ball security all summer.
But they both marred his debut as a head coach.
“That was like a 14-point swing,” Glenn said of Gipson’s fumble. “They scored, they got the turnover, then they scored again. You can’t just let that happen, to any team, I don’t care who it is. Turnovers, they lose you games. Discipline issues, they lose you games. Those are some things we’re gonna fix.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
