Pittsburgh Steelers’ Head Coach Mike Tomlin made a significant change ahead of Sunday night’s primetime game by starting Russell Wilson at quarterback over Justin Fields, despite being 4-2 heading into Week 7. Despite a slow start, which has been the norm for the 2024 Pittsburgh Steelers. Wilson and the team rolled to a statement 37-15 victory and a 5-2 record with one week before the bye.
Pittsburgh Steelers Cruise After Slow Start
Wilson had a great deal of pressure on him to prove Tomlin’s decision correct to make the change under center. Things started rocky, as most games in 2024 had for Pittsburgh. The sluggish nature of the offense continued at a crawl until the clock was closing in on one minute remaining in the first half. Six drives had produced two field goals, three consecutive three-and-outs, and a four-play drive that ended in a punt. The Jets led 15-6 without much momentum or rhythm on Pittsburgh’s side.
The much-maligned Beanie Bishop Jr. stepped up and turned the game around with a timely interception at Pittsburgh’s 46-yard line as Aaron Rodgers attempted to put together a two-minute push. Four plays and one pass-interference penalty led to Wilson’s first touchdown pass in black and gold and George Pickens’ first score of the 2024 season. The Pittsburgh Steelers went into halftime trailing by two, 15-13, but the big play from Bishop and Wilson’s perfectly-placed rainbow of a red zone pass to Pickens had sparked hope for the second half.
A Second Half Victory
Rodgers had gotten the better of Pittsburgh’s defense for most of the first two quarters, but then everything flipped around quite quickly. New York punted after four plays on the third quarter’s first drive, and from that point on, the game belonged to the Steelers. An 11-play drive ending in a field goal put Pittsburgh ahead 16-15, but two plays later Bishop snagged his second interception of the game and returned it to the one-yard line. One Wilson-led sneak later, and it was 23-15, with the Jets looking a bit shell-shocked at how rapidly the tables had turned.
On the ensuing drive, Rodgers drove 11 plays and looked to have at least earned a field goal, but Pittsburgh slammed that door shut with a blocked kick by depth defender Dean Lowry. The Pittsburgh Steelers ran out the third quarter, and with just over 12 minutes left in the game, Wilson threw his second touchdown pass to Van Jefferson. An extra point by Chris Boswell ensured that the Pittsburgh Steelers would score at least 30 points in consecutive games for the first time since back-to-back wins in Weeks 16 and 17 of the 2023 season.
Najee Harris Runs Amok Again
On the following drive, an incomplete pass to Davante Adams (three catches, 30 yards) on fourth down gave the ball back to the Steelers with under eight minutes remaining in the game and a 15-point lead. In classic, old-school Pittsburgh Steelers fashion, a 10-yard rushing touchdown by Najee Harris increased the lead to 37-15 with under 30 seconds left to go in the game. A perfectly executed play-action pass to Calvin Austin III for 36 yards broke the final drive wide open, with the ground attack doing the rest.
Harris churned out 102 rushing yards on 21 carries (4.9 average) and one score on the ground. This marks only the second time in his career that the running back has had two straight rushing performances of at least 100 yards (122 yards in Week 16 of 2023 and 112 yards in Week 17 of 2023). Jaylen Warren looked like himself for the first time in 2024 after being hampered by injuries, and the one-two punch was an excellent complement to the passing game. If Wilson continues to bring this kind of balance to the offense, it won’t be easy to consider anything other than another start in Week 8 for the veteran quarterback.
Conclusion
In a Sunday Night Football matchup that most expected to be a low-scoring, defensive game, the Pittsburgh Steelers poured on the points when all was said and done. A bold move by Tomlin brought a different feel to Pittsburgh’s offense, leading to not only a vital victory but a blueprint for balanced success going forward. The win takes nothing away from what Justin Fields did in the first six weeks, as his 4-2 record shows, but Wilson seemed to have a steadying effect as the game progressed.
The New York Giants are next up for the Pittsburgh Steelers, which should provide an excellent second test for Wilson before the Week 9 bye. Granted, the Giants don’t present the same kind of defensive or offensive challenge as the Jets were projected to, but it will be another win that Pittsburgh needs to have under its belt. With only a few weeks before the team enters the brutal gauntlet that is the second half of the 2024 campaign, a sixth win would put the Pittsburgh Steelers ahead of schedule. While it was only one win, it was what the team needed and one not many expected to turn out as it did, much to Tomlin’s delight.
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