Pittsburgh Steelers QB Russell Wilson looked good in his first career start with the team in Week 7, throwing for 264 yards and 2 touchdowns in Pittsburgh’s 37-15 win over the New York Jets. With Pittsburgh set to face the New York Giants on Monday Night Football, Giants DL Dexter Lawrence was asked on The Rich Eisen Show if Wilson looks different and how the team plans to stop him. Lawrence said Wilson is “getting his swagger back.”
“Well, it looks like he’s getting his swagger back a little bit. And that’s a dangerous Russell Wilson. We got to stop him early and often, with the o-linemen at his feet, chase him on his boots, and make sure he gets bottled up,” Lawrence said.
Wilson went through a tumultuous two seasons with the Denver Broncos after the team acquired him ahead of the 2022 season, leading to his release and Pittsburgh being able to sign him on a minimum-salary contract. Wilson has been written off by a lot of analysts and people around football, but his performance on Sunday showed he still has something left in the tank.
Even though his numbers in Denver weren’t bad last season, the team opted to move on as he wasn’t clicking with head coach Sean Payton. There wasn’t much of a market for Wilson in free agency, and now he’s looking to make his mark in Pittsburgh and prove he can still play at a high level.
It was a much-needed performance from Wilson with the decision to start him over Justin Fields, and at least through one game, it seems as if Mike Tomlin may have made the right decision turning to Wilson. After a slow start, he got into a rhythm with a deep ball to George Pickens and seemed to be playing with confidence, and the Steelers were able to put up their best offensive performance of the season.
When Wilson is confident, he’s dangerous. Lawrence and the Giants could see that on Monday Night. Lawrence, who leads the NFL with 10 sacks this season, could be a difficult matchup for the Steelers and C Ryan McCollum. He could disrupt the game if he’s able to continually drive back offensive linemen and get pressure on Wilson. Pittsburgh’s line held up well against the Jets, but Lawrence is a different beast. The Steelers will need to neutralize him to allow Wilson to play as well as he did in Week 7.
