Two weeks in a row, 30+ points scored, forced turnovers, a huge special teams play, and a relatively stress-free fourth quarter.
Heck of a development for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who rolled to a 37-15 win over the New York Jets on Sunday Night Football at Acrisure Stadium in Russell Wilson’s first start as a Steeler.
Wilson threw two touchdown passes and scored on a quarterback sneak, and the Steelers put up 37 points and really took it to the Jets’ defense.
Najee Harris had another 100-yard rushing game, George Pickens made big plays in the passing game, a depleted offensive line took over the game in the second half, and the defense came up with key plays time and time again.
That’s Pittsburgh Steelers football, baby.
5-2. All that matters.
Let’s get to some grades.
QB — A-
Heck of a performance from Russell Wilson in his Steelers debut. Wilson completed 16-of-29 passes for 264 yards and two touchdowns. He pushed the ball down the field, made some plays off play-action and was generally smart and safe with the football.
Wilson was sacked just one time, too, which was impressive. While he was under pressure often, especially early in the game, he found ways to avoid the negative plays and kept the offense on schedule overall. There were some struggles early in the game, which led to some boos and chants for Justin Fields, but late in the first half Wilson and the Steelers went hurry up and that got him into rhythm.
He took off from there.
Wilson had some underthrown deep balls, which were concerning, but he got some help from his pass catchers. He looked poised and in control and really gave the offense a boost. Really strong showing for Wilson, one he needs to build off of now.
RB — B+
Another week, another 100-yard performance from Najee Harris, who is really starting to take off. The Alabama product rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries, finishing with 4.9 yards per carry and a long of 34 yards.
Harris ran hard, broke off some big runs and really wore down the Jets late, capping his great performance with a 10-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter, putting him over 100 yards and putting an exclamation point on the night.
He’s rolling, and he’s doing it behind an offensive line facing a lot of questions right now.
Jaylen Warren had some moments against the Jets, too. He finished with 37 yards on 12 carries, averaging just 3.7 yards. He looked healthy, though, and had his usual burst, which was great to see. He added two receptions for 15 yards, including a key 11-yard catch and run on a third down in the third quarter to move the chains.
Warren was great in pass protection, too, picking up a blitz that allowed Wilson to throw a 21-yard pass to Pat Freiermuth, setting up another Steelers score.
WR – A-
After a few quiet weeks that saw him struggle to catch the football cleanly, George Pickens broke out in a big way once again, and it coincided with a quarterback change.
With Wilson under center, Pickens finished with five receptions for 111 yards and a touchdown. He added a 29-yard pass interference penalty drawn in the win over the Jets. Pickens made some acrobatic catches down the field, including a juggling catch against Sauce Gardner that created serious splash for the Steelers.
He looked as good as he has all season and was all smiles after the game. Hopefully there’s more of this ahead.
It wasn’t just Pickens making plays in the passing game, either.
Calvin Austin III had a 36-yard catch and run in which he was wide open off play-action, which gave the Steelers great splash. However, he had a pivotal drop in the first quarter that really got the Steelers out of rhythm.
Van Jefferson had two catches for 15 yards in the win, too, including a touchdown that put the game away. Wilson helped elevate the wide receivers, which is what many expected with the QB change. A good sign.
TE — B
Freiermuth made an impact in the passing game once again for the Steelers, hauling in a 30-yard catch and run in which he made a defender miss and then got a great block from George Pickens to spring him down the sideline. He then later had a juggling, one-handed catch for 21 yards, setting up a Steelers score.
Freiermuth also had an impact as a blocker, helping spring Najee Harris on his 34-yard run, continuing a strong season in that regard for the veteran tight end.
Great to see Darnell Washington get more work in the passing game. Washington had four receptions for 36 yards and ate on the short routes in the flat on rollouts for easy completions from Wilson. Need to see more of that for Washington moving forward.
OL — B+
Things didn’t look very promising early. The run game was having some issues and Wilson was under duress quite a bit even with the Steelers trying to move the pocket to keep the Jets’ pass rush off balance.
It wasn’t working.
But late in the first half the Steelers went hurry up after Beanie Bishop Jr.’s first interception and the offensive line really settled in.
The unit took off in the second half as the run game got rolling, and protection was there in a big way for Wilson to hit throws down the field.
Just a really solid performance overall from a group that was under fire early in the game. But as has been the case throughout the season with the changes up front, the line got going in the second half and rolled along, closing out a win.
DL — B+
Outside of a 13-yard touchdown run in the first half, the Steelers’ run defense was really good, and it starts with the defensive line.
The group really controlled the line of scrimmage, particularly against the run, and forced the Jets to become one-dimensional faster than they wanted to.
Larry Ogunjobi started things with a bang, sacking Aaron Rodgers to force a punt. But then he had a 15-yard penalty on the next drive for tackling Breece Hall too hard apparently. It was a ridiculous penalty for which Ogunjobi can’t be faulted.
Keeanu Benton had a strong game, too. He batted two passes at the line of scrimmage, including one on a 4th and short to force a turnover on downs. Cameron Heyward had a pass breakup on the night, too. The two combined for four tackles and really couldn’t be blocked for stretches.
LB — B-
Holding the Jets to just 15 points is rather impressive, but there were some concerns in the performance, specifically tackling.
That started at the linebacker level as Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson had issues in the tackling department. Though Wilson had 10 tackles to lead the Steelers, he was sloppy in space and missed a couple of tackles that led to splash. So, too, did Queen, who finished with just four tackles.
Elandon Roberts didn’t record a tackle on the night. Worse, he took out Queen and teammate T.J. Watt on Breece Hall’s big catch and run, which was a microcosm of tackling issues on the night.
On the outside, Alex Highsmith had a very good game in his return to the lineup. He had four tackles and two quarterback hits and racked up a number of pressures as he gave Jets LT Tyron Smith fits all night.
T.J. Watt had a pass batted at the line of scrimmage but wasn’t all that impactful rushing the passer as the Jets doubled and chipped him in an effort to take him away. Watt had just one tackle on the night but did get credited with two quarterback hits.
DB — B+
Outside of some ugly tackling attempts from Donte Jackson and Minkah Fitzpatrick in space, I thought the secondary was good against a loaded Jets receiver room.
Beanie Bishop Jr. had two interceptions against Rodgers, including an impressive, one-handed interception over the middle late in the first half that changed the game entirely. He still gave up some plays out of the slot, but two interceptions against a future Hall of Famer like Rodgers is outstanding. He added a tackle for loss for good measure.
Joey Porter Jr. was lockdown throughout the night in coverage. He also had a tackle for loss in the game and wasn’t challenged much in coverage. Donte Jackson had a rough night. He had a bad miss in space on Hall’s long catch and run and was shaky early in coverage before exiting with a shoulder injury.
James Pierre replaced him and gave up some completions, but overall held his own, finishing with five tackles.
DeShon Elliott was outstanding once again for the Steelers. He finished with six tackles, a tackle for loss and a quarterback hit. He was all over the place, and he brought the physicality, flying downhill for a huge tackle short of the sticks in the third quarter, setting up a turnover on downs for the Jets.
Fitzpatrick had a rough missed tackle in space, but overall was his usual steady self, finishing with four tackles while keeping a lid on things in the passing game. I’d like to see him force a turnover here soon.
Special Teams — A
Chris Boswell was a perfect 3-for-3 on the night on field goals, connecting from 46, 29 and 21 yards, and was 4-for-4 on extra points. He’s arguably the best kicker in football and showed it once again on Sunday night.
Corliss Waitman was awesome, punting four times for 184 yards, 46 yards per punt, downing three of his four punts inside the 20-yard line. He had a long of 55 yards on the night, too, and didn’t allow a punt return.
The special teams grade is so high due to a blocked field goal from Dean Lowry, which really swung momentum in the Steelers’ favor. The Steelers came up just short of a blocked punt early in the game, and then blocked an extra point in the second quarter before a bogus leverage call on Minkah Fitzpatrick wiped it out, leading to a Jets’ 2-point conversion.
But special teams wouldn’t be denied as Lowry got a hand on the field goal and blocked it, keeping the Jets off the board. They wouldn’t come close to scoring again.
Danny Smith forever.
