A weird week that ends in a big win over the New York Jets. Let’s dive in.
– Starting with the score. Pittsburgh’s 37 points are the most it’s scored in a win since Week 6 of the 2020 season, a 38-7 win over the Cleveland Browns. And it’s the first time the Steelers have scored at least 37 in a primetime victory since 2018 when they blew out the Carolina Panthers 52-21.
– The Steelers have now won back-to-back games by at least 19 points, something they haven’t done since Weeks 10 and 11 of the 2020 season. That year, they beat the Cincinnati Bengals 36-10 and the Jacksonville Jaguars 27-3.
In the Tomlin era, this is only the fourth time it’s happened. It occurred in 2007, 2010, 2020, and now 2024.
– Pittsburgh has now won three games this year by more than one possession with such victories over the Los Angeles Chargers, Las Vegas Raiders, and Jets. That’s the most they’ve had in a season since 2020. In all of last year, they had just one. In 2022, they had two, and in 2021, they had one.
– Russell Wilson threw for two touchdowns and rushed for a score in the 37-15 win. He’s the first Steelers’ QB to do so since Ben Roethlisberger in 2018, a 20-16 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
– He is just the second quarterback to throw for 250 yards, two touchdowns, and no picks since Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement. Mason Rudolph was the other, doing it once in last year’s win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
– Wilson is the 95th Steeler to throw a touchdown pass in team history.
– Over the first 56 games of his career, Najee Harris had just three rushes gaining 30-plus yards. Over the last two, he has a pair of such runs.
– TE Darnell Washington caught a career-high four receptions Sunday night. That nearly matches the total he had over the first six games, six receptions, and he had seven receptions in 17 games as a rookie.
It’s his most receptions in a game since Nov. 5, 2022, when he caught five passes for 60 yards and a score against Mississippi State.
– TE Pat Freiermuth caught a 30-yard pass in this game. Not only was it his longest catch of the year, it was his longest catch since Dec. 4, 2022, when he had a 57-yard reception against the Atlanta Falcons.
– As an offense, Pittsburgh had four completions of 30-plus yards against the Jets. One by Freiermuth, one by WR Calvin Austin III, and two by WR George Pickens. That’s the most such completions in a game since Pittsburgh had four in 2017 against the Detroit Lions, the game where JuJu Smith-Schuster ripped off a 97-yard touchdown.
Add RB Najee Harris’ 34-yard run and Pittsburgh had five plays from scrimmage of at least 30 yards. That hasn’t happened since 2015, nearly a decade ago, in their blowout win over the San Francisco 49ers. That day, WR Antonio Brown had two receptions, WR Darrius Heyward-Bey also had a pair, and WR Markus Wheaton had one such catch.
– WR Van Jefferson caught his first touchdown pass since Dec. 8, 2022, as a member of the Los Angeles Rams. That also came in primetime fashion, though it was a Thursday night game.
– Coming into Sunday night, Aaron Rodgers had thrown eight touchdowns to zero interceptions in three games against the Steelers, including the Super Bowl. Sunday night, he threw a pair of picks and just one passing score.
– New Jets WR Davante Adams caught three passes in the first half. He didn’t catch a pass in the second half.
– Over the last two weeks, Pittsburgh has outscored its opponent 44-6 in the second half. They outscored the Raiders 20-6 and the Jets 24-0.
– Pittsburgh’s core rush, its d-line and EDGEs, combined for four pass deflections in this game. NT Keeanu Benton had two, Cam Heyward had one, and T.J. Watt had one.
– CB Beanie Bishop Jr. is the Steelers’ first UDFA rookie to pick off two passes in a game since Shawn Vincent in 1991. To put that in perspective, Bishop was born in 1999. In franchise history, he is the fourth Steeler to have that kind of game.
– Bishop is only the second rookie to ever intercept Rodgers twice in a game, joining the Detroit Lions’ Kerby Joseph in 2022. Bishop is the first UDFA to do so.
– Pittsburgh had a whopping six red zone trips in this game.
– Jets RB Breece Hall had 103 receiving yards against the Steelers. He’s the first running back to have 100-plus yards receiving against Pittsburgh since the Eagles’ Darren Sproles in 2016, who posted 128 yards in a 34-3 Philadelphia win.
– Finally, K Chris Boswell booted three field goals, giving him 250 for his career. He’s the 51st kicker in NFL history to do so and the second Steeler, joining Gary Anderson.
