By Ray Porter Jr./Urban Media Today
PITTSBURGH, PA–There were many questions about the Pittsburgh Steelers as they prepared to play the NY Jets for a Sunday Night Matchup, with the main question about how veteran QB Russell Wilson would fare in his first start in the Black & Gold after Justin Fields started the first 6 games and led them to a 4-2 record.
Well, such questions were answered as Wilson led the Steelers to an impressive 37-15 win in front of not just the 66,956 Acrisure Stadium fans, but also a NBS Sunday Night Football audience and the 1974 Super Bowl team who celebrated their 50th anniversary.
” There’s nothing like prime-time football at Acrisure,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “I’m just really appreciative of the atmosphere and the quality of play. Thought we got stronger as the game went on in all three phases, man. We made plays in all three phases.”
But it wasn’t easy as the Steelers had to overcome another slow start that found themselves trailing QB Aaron Rodgers and the Jets 15-6 at in the second quarter. The team needed a jolt of some kind and then came in the form of an interception by CB (and West Virginia Alum) Beanie Bishop Jr. This allowed the Steelers to get the ball back on a short field and score their first TD of the game as Wilson found WR George Pickens for an 11-yard TD pass with 27 seconds left in the first half.
“Yeah, you know, A-Rod[Aaron Rodgers], he likes to — whenever he sees the middle of the field open he likes to throw the ball in there and I can’t remember if it was last week or a couple weeks ago, he threw the ball right at buddy’s helmet and kind of gave him a back shoulder pass, so just being able to see that stuff on film and just being able to react, know that it’s coming, that’s just how I played it,” said Bishop.
After K Chris Boswell’s 3rd FG gave the Steelers a 16-15 lead, Bishop would strike again in the third quarter as he picked off Rodgers for a second time and returned it 41 yards to the Jets 1 and Wilson’s 1-yard sneak extended their lead to 23-15.
Rodgers (24/39, 276 yards, TD, 2 INT) would then lead the Jets on another impressive drive into Steelers territory, but it would get extinguished by another FG block for the third straight game. This time, it was Special Teamer/DT Dean Lowry who got his hands on the Greg Zuerlein FG attempt, which left the Jets with 0 points. Then Wilson (16/29, 264 yards, 2 TDs) and the offense went back to work as they drove down the field for an 11-play 75-yard drive that ended with a 4-yard TD pass to WR Van Jefferson, extending their lead to 30-15. The Steelers would add their final points on a 10-yard run by RB Najee Harris (21 carries, 102 yards) for their 37th point of the game and their highest season total thus far.
“I thought he was excellent,” Tomlin said of his starting QB. “I thought he got better as the game went on. But I’m not surprised by that. It’s been a while since he played some ball, but I thought he settled in, knocked the rust off, and distributed the ball around, and played well.”
RB Jaylen Warren added 44 yards as the Steelers rushed for 149 yards as a team, Pickens led the Steelers with 111 yards on 5 catches, and TE Pat Freiermuth added 51 yards on 2 catches. On defense, Rookie LB Payton Wilson led the Steelers with 14 tackles (10 solo) and DE Larry Ogunjobi got the team’s only sack.
“We did a great job. The guys did a tremendous job up front giving me enough time to make throws. Guys made plays down the field, and I think it’s just the love of the game, you know,” said Wilson. “I played so many games and you know that every game is different. Every game has its own story, and every game has different moments in it, and you catch the wave and once you find it, you don’t let go.”
At 5-2, the Steelers have a 1-game lead over the Baltimore Ravens (who will play Monday Night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and will now prepare to face the other NY team next Monday Night as they welcome the 2-5 Giants to town. Many questioned Tomlin for making the QB switch to Wilson, now the only question that they have is if the future Hall of Famer can do it again.
“We’ve got a block culture here that we embrace, and we embrace it with our work during the course of the week,” said Tomlin. “We’ve got a lot of guys that put a lot of effort into the techniques that’s required to deliver and so I’m just appreciative of that. It’s pretty awesome. It is significant, and it has been. I’m appreciative.”
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