Pittsburgh Steelers vs. New York Jets X-Factors: Can Russell Wilson surge offense to win?

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers will welcome the New York Jets for Sunday Night Football this week, and with a change at quarterback coming down the pipeline on top of that, it seems like the Steelers will have the spotlight on them. The Jets just made a huge trade for Davante Adams, and the hope is that the star wide receiver can spark the offense even more, especially since the Jets now sit at 2-4.

With that being said, here are the two X-Factors for this matchup:

Jets X-Factor: Garrett Wilson

I am picking the other top Jets wide receiver as the X-Factor here, mainly because the Steelers’ focus will almost certainly be on Adams himself. Adams is the superstar and the guy with Rodgers’ trust, and so Joey Porter Jr. will be tested out there. However, Garrett Wilson is a one-on-one cheat code that could create significant issues for the Steelers from the slot. His matchup against Beanie Bishop is one that is terrifying, and he is easily the best second wide receiver Pittsburgh has seen this year.

Wilson and Rodgers’ relationship has not come super naturally just yet, but those are two talented people that make you respect them. In particular, what happened against the Colts with Josh Downs makes this a very concerning matchup for the Steelers. If Wilson goes off, even if they hold Adams down for the most part, Pittsburgh will likely be giving up multiple third down conversions from that slot, just like they did against the Colts.

Steelers X-Factor: Russell Wilson

There is no overthinking this one, and the Steelers have a lot of matchups to watch on both sides of the ball. The biggest one not mentioned here is center Ryan McCollum against Jets star Quinnen Williams. Zach Frazier being out is a huge hit for the Steelers in this game. Yet, Russell Wilson remains the forefront of the argument. Can the deep ball pop against a talented defense with a battered secondary?

The Jets will rightfully sell out to stop Najee Harris, who could get some success against them. New York has missed the most tackles in the NFL against running backs this season, and were just carved up by Ray Davis. Wilson, if he can supplement Harris with quality play-action passing and keep the negative plays, especially sacks, to a minimum, can engineer Pittsburgh to a win in what looks like a very winnable game on paper.

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