During the first quarter of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ game against the New York Jets, Acrisure Stadium sounded like it did during the Kenny Pickett/Matt Canada era as boos rang across the venue. A slow start for QB Russell Wilson and the Pittsburgh offense led to anger from a fan base that was already doubting head coach Mike Tomlin’s decision to start Wilson over QB Justin Fields.
Tomlin and Wilson had the last laugh and turned the jeers into cheers as Wilson and the Steelers rolled in a 37-15 thrashing of the Jets. Although fans were nervous when Pittsburgh went down early and struggled to move the ball, the Steelers’ offense had all the confidence in the world, according to LT Dan Moore Jr.
“It’s funny ’cause like, I guess on the outside end it might have seemed like it was bad, but just being in the huddle, like the confidence that we had, the swag that we had, even when things weren’t going our way early in the game, I still felt like we knew at some point like things were gonna change,” Moore told George Von Benko on Sportsline on WMBS radio. “It was gonna hit for us, and you know, we all believed that Russ believed it. I thought he did a really good job commanding in the huddle. I thought he did a really good job communicating with us, especially on [the] offensive line, getting us on the same page. Thought he did a great job.”
After the first quarter it did seem pretty bad. Pittsburgh only mustered three points and 51 yards with most of that coming on its opening drive. However, the Steelers ended the game with 409 yyards, 260 coming thanks to Wilson’s right arm.
Throughout his 13 NFL seasons Wilson has been known as a great leader, and his teammates seem to love him. Even as fans chanted for Fields, Wilson never wavered. In fact, it helped him hit a second gear. Wilson’s steady hand helped the Steelers not get rattled, something we have not often said over the past couple of seasons when the home fans turned on the sputtering offense.
Overall, the Steelers’ offense looked the best it has all season last Sunday. While it may not be all due to Wilson, he certainly had a significant part in helping the Steelers to their most complete game on offense in years.
Now, Wilson and the offense have to continue this Monday night against the New York Giants. If the Steelers can get to 6-2 at their bye week with consecutive strong offensive performances, things will be looking really good for them moving forward.
