Pittsburgh Steelers WR Mike Williams has played four games since being acquired via trade by the team, and in those four games, he has one reception on one target. The one reception was a big one, a game-winning touchdown catch in Week 10 against the Washington Commanders, but he simply hasn’t been a featured part of Pittsburgh’s offense. While that may bother some receivers, Williams doesn’t seem all that concerned.
After the game yesterday, Williams posted a picture of him celebrating with Pat Freiermuth on his Instagram story with the caption “Fuck it, we winning,” with a laughing emoji.
Williams was acquired from the New York Jets, who were 3-6 when they traded Williams and haven’t won since, currently sitting at 3-9. Williams is a player who hasn’t experienced the playoffs much in his career, as he’s played in just three career postseason games, all with the Los Angeles Chargers. He played in two playoff games in 2019 and one game in 2023, and Williams seems eager to return to the postseason with a winning team.
Just because Williams hasn’t been that involved in the offense so far doesn’t mean his role won’t continue to grow. At this point, though, it doesn’t seem as if Williams is going to see consistent snaps ahead of Calvin Austin III or Van Jefferson, but he’s still a nice piece for the Steelers to have as a big-bodied, veteran receiver who’s already shown he can make plays in big moments for the Steelers.
Despite Williams’ lack of involvement so far in the offense, the Steelers are playing good football, and they scored 44 points, their highest total since 2018, in their win over the Cincinnati Bengals yesterday. They have a chance to get the AFC’s No. 1 seed (although they’ll need some help) and they’re currently in the driver’s seat in the AFC North.
They’re a good football team, and after years of playing for Chargers teams that never could get over the hump and a rough start with the Jets this season, Williams seems excited to be on a team that has clear aspirations to win in the playoffs, despite the fact he hasn’t been a featured part of Pittsburgh’s game plan.
It would be a surprise if Williams doesn’t see his usage increase down the stretch in some capacity, and he’s someone who can still make an impact for the Steelers as they look to get through a really difficult stretch of their schedule and head into the postseason. With Russell Wilson spreading the ball around yesterday and 10 different receivers getting a catch, Williams will likely wind up making more of an impact than we’ve seen. But if he doesn’t, playing on a winning football team seems to be good enough for him, which is nice to see.
