Jets 17, Steelers 0: Geno Smith's One Drive, Then a Full Shutout

August 21, 2026 - Pittsburgh - Geno Smith needed one series. Seven completions. Sixty-five yards. A 13-yard flip to Jelani Woods. Then he sat down, and the New York Jets never let the Pittsburgh Steelers into the end zone.

Final: Jets 17, Steelers 0. Smith's left ankle looked fine after he sat out the preseason opener. Aaron Glenn still wanted more from the run game. The shutout did the rest of the talking.

One drive for Smith, then the backup carousel

Smith, reunited with the club that drafted him in 2013 after the March trade from Las Vegas, took the Jets 69 yards in 10 plays. He showed a little mobility when rushed. He scored. He called it a good start with plenty to clean up, and kept the cleanup list to himself.

Cade Klubnik went 10 of 15 for 75 yards in the backup fight. Bailey Zappe threw for 68. Brady Cook's only completion was a 31-yard lob that Quincy Skinner Jr. cradled for a fourth-quarter touchdown. Jason Sanders hit from 39 earlier in the fourth. Cade York handled the extra point on the late score.

Glenn was blunt about the 62 rushing yards. Sixteen of those came on a Klubnik scramble. Pittsburgh prides itself on stopping the run. Glenn said that was not a pass for New York.

Two picks, four sacks, zero points allowed

Will Howard and Drew Allar got the whole Steelers workload with Aaron Rodgers and Mason Rudolph resting. Neither reached the end zone after combining for four touchdown drives against Green Bay a week earlier.

Howard started: 10 of 15, 75 yards, and two interceptions while driving in Jets territory. Andre Cisco stepped in front of a throw meant for Roman Wilson and returned it 23 yards. Samuel Womack picked another pass intended for Wilson on the next series. David Bailey, the No. 2 overall pick, dropped Howard for an 11-yard loss in the first.

Allar finished 11 of 23 for 110 yards. His best throw was a 39-yard connection with Lake McCree. The protection in front of both quarterbacks was shaky. Pittsburgh allowed four sacks, including two from recently signed edge rusher Nate Lynn, who spent 2024 in Detroit while Glenn was the Lions' defensive coordinator.

New York intercepted nobody during the entire 2025 regular season. Two picks in one half of August film will not rewrite that history. They did change the night's math.

AthX Engine, if this were a regular-season card

AthX Engine NFL scoring is built for weekly lines. Preseason boxes are film, not stored AthX Engine week stats yet.

What the verified lines still tell you: Smith's 13-yard TD pass is 4 fantasy points plus yardage. Cook's 31-yard TD pass is another. Sanders' 39-yard field goal is a solid kicker score under AthX Engine distance rules. Cisco's and Womack's interceptions are defensive scores. Howard's two picks are negatives on the QB card. Fantasy points measure the box. Price is what the market will pay when Smith and Rodgers are actually under center in September.

Track Smith, Rodgers, and the Jets and Steelers on the marketplace. New York hosts the Giants on Aug. 28. Pittsburgh travels to Buffalo on Aug. 27.

*Sources: ESPN recap, ESPN game, NFL.com schedules. Information only; not financial advice.*