It wasn’t pretty, and it definitely had some harrowing moments in the fourth quarter, but the Pittsburgh Steelers found a way to make the necessary plays late in the game to pick up a 26-18 win over the New York Giants on Monday Night Football. They moved to 6-2 on the season and enter their much-needed bye week on a high note.
Russell Wilson and the Steelers’ offense once again had another impressive showing, moving the ball consistently and putting up points time and time again against the Giants. The defense had two forced turnovers late to get the necessary stops and win a game in which the unit wasn’t at its best.
They don’t ask how it looks; they only ask what the final score is.
That said, it looked better than the final score might have indicated, especially on offense.
Let’s get to some grades.
QB — B
Once again, Russell Wilson had a strong showing through the air. The veteran quarterback completed 20-of-28 passes for 278 yards and a touchdown. His stats line should have looked even better as he had two touchdown passes to George Pickens negated, one due to a penalty on Broderick Jones and one after Pickens did not get a second foot down in the end zone.
That was certainly frustrating, but Wilson dealt all night long. He threw a great deep ball to Calvin Austin III for a touchdown in the second half, and also had a perfectly placed ball to Pickens to set up a Chris Boswell field goal.
Wilson did take some bad sacks, though, and made a puzzling decision to go hurry-up in what was very clearly a four-minute offense situation and then fumbled on the scramble, giving the Giants great field position. He was bailed out by one Trent Jordan Watt a few plays later though.
Despite the sacks and the fumble, Wilson played well, took what was there, and hit the deep shots when he had the opportunity. All of it led to another solid showing offensively.
RB — B+
Najee Harris is on a heater right now, and shows no signs of slowing down.
Harris rushed for a career-high 119 yards on just 19 carries, averaging 6.0 yards on the night. He got off to a fast start and never looked back. The offensive line opened up some holes and Harris flew through them, breaking tackles in the process and putting together another great day.
Jaylen Warren had a nice night, too, finishing with 46 yards, averaging 5.1 yards on nine carries. He ran hard, hit holes quickly and carved up the Giants when called upon. He was dynamic as a receiver, too, finishing with two receptions for 13 yards, converting a big third down early in the game.
WR — B
Nice night overall for the wide receivers, though there were some mistakes.
Pickens led the Steelers with four receptions for 74 yards. He had a huge 43-yard shot play down the left sideline from Wilson in the fourth quarter that sparked the Steelers’ offense. He also had a nice catch and run in the first half that seemingly set up a touchdown.
Instead, Pickens didn’t get both feet down on the play and was ruled out of bounds, forcing the Steelers to settle for a field goal. Losing a touchdown on a facemask penalty from Broderick Jones wasn’t fun, either.
Van Jefferson finished with four receptions for 62 yards and made a great play on a back-shoulder ball for a gain of 36 yards that gave the offense life. It was a great adjustment and great body control to remain inbounds and make the play. He’s becoming a key receiver for Wilson.
Calvin Austin III finished with three receptions for 54 yards, which included his 29-yard touchdown that seemingly broke the game open for the Steelers. He ran a great route and won easily against man coverage, and Wilson dropped it into the bucket for him.
Scotty Miller saw some run on the night, too, and was targeted deep on one occasion, but the ball went through his arms. Still, nice to see him get a deep shot.
TE — B-
Things started out nicely with Darnell Washington hauling in a 29-yard catch and run from Wilson on the first drive of the game, but after that he wasn’t targeted.
Pat Freiermuth had just two receptions for 19 yards while MyCole Pruitt had one catch for 10 yards. It was a quiet night in the passing game for the tight ends.
However, the group did solid work in the run game, particularly Connor Heyward, who was the pseudo-fullback and helped open lanes. Washington controlled the line of scrimmage, too, as did Pruitt. Freiermuth has improved in that area of his game, too, and it all came together to lead to another strong rushing performance.
OL — C
Really rough night for Broderick Jones, who committed a penalty that wiped out a touchdown, allowed a sack and was blown up on a draw play that led to a huge tackle for loss. It led to criticism on social media from one OL guru about his commitment and effort.
Not great for Jones. Really concerning season continues for him.
Dan Moore Jr. was really solid on the night once again. He’s been a rock for the Steelers in the trenches. It was rather telling that on the one play he missed backup Calvin Anderson was beaten for a sack. Moore has been good in the run game and has been pretty steady in pass protection.
Isaac Seumalo quietly had a strong game, too, outside of a puzzling false start penalty in which he didn’t appear to move. Same for the false start penalty on center Ryan McCollum in which it appeared he caught the Giants offsides but instead was flagged himself.
He had struggles on the night with Dexter Lawrence, which was expected. He was also battling an arm injury.
Mason McCormick was really good on the night, too, and continues to be a people mover in the run game. However, he did allow a quick pressure to Lawrence that led to a sack of Wilson.
DL — C
Cameron Heyward, in his record-setting appearance with the Steelers, played some solid football. He finished with six tackles, one tackle for loss and two quarterback hits. But he had some issues in the run game, much like many others did. He was around the football, though, and was stout when it mattered most.
Larry Ogunjobi quietly put up three tackles while Keeanu Benton started the game fast, played with good effort and chased the football time and time again. But he had some issues getting off blocks in the run game and wasn’t much of a factor.
Isaiahh Loudermilk and Dean Lowry were quiet and struggled in the run game, too. A bit disappointing to see the struggles in the run game from the defensive line.
LB — B+
Alex Highsmith and T.J. Watt were game-wreckers, period. The pair had two sacks each while Highsmith blew up a 2-point conversion and Watt had a key strip-sack in the fourth quarter in the red zone.
The Giants had no answer for either one as they turned up the heat on Jones and the Giants’ offense. It’s remarkable to watch when those two are rolling the way they are.
On the inside, Patrick Queen had some nice plays in coverage, but he fell down on the Giants’ 46-yard touchdown run and took out safety DeShon Elliott in the process. Queen still had eight tackles, but it was some of the plays he didn’t make that was frustrating.
Elandon Roberts played well at times coming downhill against the run, finishing with three tackles and a tackle for loss. Payton Wilson had three tackles and two quarterback hits, being called upon as a blitzer on occasion. Make no mistake, though, the outside linebacker duo wrecked this game for the Steelers.
DB — C-
A really rough, concerning night for the secondary, outside of rookie Beanie Bishop Jr.’s game-sealing interception.
The Steelers played soft, conservative coverage for much of the night, which allowed Jones and the Giants to hit on a number of plays.
Joey Porter Jr. led the Steelers in tackles with eight, but he was often seen throwing his hands up in off-zone coverage looking rather confused and frustrated that receptions were being allowed.
Donte Jackson had struggles on the other side, too, including giving up a long shot to Darius Slayton early in the game, getting beat down the seam after Jones looked off safety Minkah Fitzpatrick to open the window.
When Jones tried Fitzpatrick, he made plays, including blowing up Slayton on the Giants’ sideline to force a third-down incompletion in the first half.
DeShon Elliott had seven tackles and a pass breakup, but getting taken out on the Tyrone Tracy touchdown run was frustrating, in part because he didn’t attack downhill like he typically does. That allowed Queen to stumble and take him out.
Terrell Edmunds had issues in coverage, too, as Jones targeted him a few times.
Really concerning performance against an offense that wasn’t all that good. The good news, though, is that they negated Malik Nabers for much of the game. He finished with seven receptions for 71 yards, but it was a quiet performance.
Special Teams — A
Once again, Danny Smith’s special teams strike.
This time, it wasn’t a blocked kick, but a punt return for a touchdown.
Calvin Austin III raced home 73 yards for a punt-return touchdown and picked up some great blocks from Rodney Williams, James Pierre and Jeremiah Moon in the process. It’s a culture in Pittsburgh. Special teams are so key.
Austin’s punt return showed that.
Along with the punt-return touchdown, Chris Boswell was a perfect four-for-four on the night and remains on pace to set an NFL record. Corliss Waitman was quite good punting the football, averaging 43.7 yards on three punts and downing two punts inside the 20-yard line.
The Steelers did allow a 47-yard kickoff return, which came immediately after Wilson found Austin for the 29-yard touchdown. That kickoff return led to Tracy’s 46-yard touchdown run as the Giants needed to cover just 55 yards on the drive.
