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The Steelers QB made a huge statement in his team debut
After a week full of discourse surrounding the pending quarterback change, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Russell Wilson shut up a lot of doubters – myself included – in a 37-15 win over the New York Jets, scoring the most points in the post-Ben Roethlisberger era.
Let’s start by talking about Wilson because he was terrific tonight. After a shaky start that included three three-and-outs in the teams first four drives, Wilson led Pittsburgh to 31 unanswered points, and looked like vintage Russ in the process. He went 16-of-29 for 264 yards, which is the most by a Steelers quarterback in their debut in team history. He also threw two touchdowns. The first of which capped off a drive that was set up by the first of two Beanie Bishop interceptions where Wilson hit George Pickens on a one-on-one fade in the back of the end zone to give No. 14 his first score of the year. The second was to Van Jefferson to give the Steelers a 15-point lead and got them their second straight 30-point game. On the night, Wilson had seven completions of 15 or more yards and finished with an EPA per play of 0.32. For comparison, the league leader in EPA per play is Jayden Daniels, who has an EPA pf 0.21. I was very outspoken about being against the quarterback change – I’ll eat my crow and give my flowers to Russell Wilson and Mike Tomlin in a tremendous performance.
Now, for the rest of the team. How about Beanie Bishop? Two interceptions that set up Steelers touchdowns. Dean Lowry blocked a field goal in the second half to keep the Steelers up by eight – that’s the second time this season the Steelers have blocked a field goal on Sunday Night Football. Keeanu Benton made multiple terrific plays, including breaking up a screen play and then just moments later batting down a pass on fourth down to all but end the game. DeShon Elliott continues to fly all over the field and play at an All-Pro level. He had six tackles. Payton Wilson was also constantly around the ball and led the team with 10 tackles. Overall the defense wasn’t perfect – the tackling in particular was rough all night and led to multiple big catches and runs by Breece Hall. However, this was another really good showing by the defense.
In terms of the skill position players, this was a night of everyone getting a share of the meal. Najee Harris had his second consecutive 100-yard game and put the exclamation point on the Steelers’ work by scoring a touchdown with 26 seconds left. The offensive line deserves a lot of credit, as well by helping pave the way for a 149 yard performance on the ground. George Pickens finished the night with five catches and 11 yards and the aforementioned touchdown. Jaylen Warren looked like his old self with 44 yards on the ground on 12 carries, and a big third down catch where he made a defender miss and moved the chains. Six Steelers had at least one catch tonight.
It took a little bit for the offense to find its rhythm, but once they did, the dam broke. Should they continue this consistency, this could be the team that fans have been waiting for – a team that can not just sneak into the playoffs, but a team that can make some real noise.