Davante Adams, Russell Wilson Debut as Jets Face Steelers

by Ryan S. in NFL on Oct 18, 2024 9:18am

Sunday Night Football has two big storylines involving two stars debuting on a new team. Earlier this week, the Jets traded for Davante Adams to rejoin Aaron Rodgers while the Steelers made a puzzling move, replacing Justin Fields with Russell Wilson who makes his first start with Pittsburgh.

New York Jets

The Jets offense came to life in their Monday night loss as the team racked up nearly 400 yards under new play caller Todd Downing. After a couple of poor games, RB Breece Hall broke out posting 169 yards from scrimmage. But the Steelers have the 8th best total defense and are fourth best against the run. The offensive line struggled against Buffalo committing costly penalties and giving up 3 sacks. Still, there is hope now that Davante Adams has arrived. Will he be ready to go after dealing with a ‘hamstring’ injury? He’ll definitely add a punch with Rodgers if they can create magic like in Green Bay. The defense is allowing just 18 points per game, eighth best overall and will look to shut down a Pittsburgh offense ranked 7th from the bottom averaging just under 299 yards per game.

Pittsburgh Steelers

With a 4-2 record and near the bottom for offense output the Steelers are making a switch at quarterback going with Russell Wilson. Mike Tomlin is hoping the veteran pivot can generate more offense against a Jets defense that didn’t look great against the Bills. Najee Harris finally had a breakout game with 106 yards and a score against the Raiders. He could be a big piece of the offense again to alleviate some of the pressure from Wilson. As mentioned, the Steelers run stop unit is one of the best allowing just 3.6 yards per carry, the second lowest in the NFL. The defense continues to be one of the toughest with 11 takeaways. And with the way Rodgers has been playing of late, four interceptions in the last two games, look for the Steelers to pressure him Sunday, looking to create more turnovers.

Best Bet: UNDER 37

Both teams are big fans recently of the run game and have aging quarterbacks. This could be the recipe of a ground attack where the clock is always ticking. Both teams have playmakers on defense and this total should stay under 3.

Player Props Best Bets

Aaron Rodgers: OVER .5 Interceptions (+110)

A-Rod has thrown 4 picks in the last two games and faces a fierce unit that already has 7 interceptions this season. With Adams in the mix, Rodgers could be trying to force passes and could be ripe for the picking.

Najee Harris: OVER 51.5 Rushing Yards (-114)

Harris is coming off a season best 106 yards on 14 carries and has gone over this total 4 of 6 games so far. Here’s the thing, with Justin Fields, the quarterback took away many run options for Harris, but with Wilson, Harris should get even more carries and should be able to go over this number.