By Brian Batko/Pittsburg Post-Gazette/TNS
(Source: Florida Courier)
PITTSBURGH — It’s not about how you start but how you finish. That goes for Russell Wilson’s Steelers debut, and perhaps it will be the theme of his first season in Pittsburgh.
After missing the first six games because of a problematic calf, Wilson finally got his chance ahead of Justin Fields as the starting quarterback and led the Steelers to a 37-15 win against the New York Jets — and fellow Super Bowl champion Aaron Rodgers — Sunday night at Acrisure Stadium.
About a month from his 36th birthday, Wilson made more winning plays than his 40-year-old counterpart, throwing for 264 yards and two touchdowns on 16-of-29 passing with no interceptions. He even scored a 1-yard touchdown run on a sneak despite his preseason health issues.
Wilson was plenty rusty in the first quarter, rolling some ground balls and looking sloppy in the pocket without much mobility. As the game wore on, Wilson got more comfortable and excelled off of play-action, both on deep balls and check-downs.
The run game opened up as a result, too, and the Steelers finished with 149 yards on 36 carries. Najee Harris was efficient for the second game in a row, rushing for 102 yards on 21 carries. Jaylen Warren also looked like his old self for the first time this year, adding 44 yards on 12 rushes.
It was over when: Steelers defensive tackle Keeanu Benton batted down a Rodgers pass on fourth-and-5 to snuff a Jets possession that was nearing the red zone with 7:53 left. The Steelers responded with a clock-milking drive that put the game away.
Player of the game: George Pickens. That’s the guy whose routine plays are different from most receivers’ routine plays. And Pickens made routine plays routinely, finishing with five receptions on nine targets for 111 yards and his first touchdown of the season. His presence was a huge boost for a rusty Wilson, who, when in doubt, just found Pickens and let his mercurial third-year wideout do the rest. Pickens had a couple of highlight-reel circus catches and made even more of an impact than the box score would indicate. He drew a defensive pass interference penalty on All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner to set up his 11-yard score.
Trending up: Beanie Bishop. The rookie cornerback picked off two passes, one a fantastic individual play and the other a lucky bounce he pounced on to change the momentum. Both gave Wilson short fields to work with — the second a very short field at the Jets’ 1 — and epitomized the type of complementary football the Steelers always want to play. It’s usually T.J. Watt or Cam Heyward or one of the veteran defensive backs flipping the field for the offense, but on this night, it was a rookie who could’ve just as easily been an Aaron Rodgers victim rather than a thorn in his side.
Trending down: Justin Fields. As much as it was a controversial choice by Mike Tomlin to go in a different direction at quarterback amid a 4-2 start, the Steelers offense simply looked like it fits Wilson much more than Fields. Wilson operated smoothly, the run and pass game worked hand-in-hand, and everything just flowed with a more experienced quarterback running the show.
Fields did enough to put himself in position to play again had Wilson faltered, but now it appears he might be stuck to the sideline barring injury to Wilson. And despite all the speculation about the Steelers using both quarterbacks, Fields didn’t get a single snap — not even at the goal line, where Wilson pushed forward for a touchdown on a keeper.
