PITTSBURGH — When the offense stumbled off the field after three straight 3-and-outs early in the second quarter on Monday night, a languid Acresure Stadium crowd erupted with boos. And if there was ever any doubt as to the main target of the vocal complaints, the chants of Justin Fields made it abundantly clear: Russell Wilson’s substandard play and inaccuracy led to crowd complaints It was the center of
But two hours later, after 34 unanswered points, Wilson quarterbacked the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 37-15 victory over the New York Jets in prime time, setting franchise records for passing yards and points. The crowd sang along to Biz Markie and Mac Miller. He scored a goal in his debut match.
Wilson finished his injury-delayed regular season debut with 264 passing yards and three total touchdowns. He was just 2-of-6 for 19 yards in the first quarter, including a 15-yard completion on Darnell Washington’s first attempt, but 23 in the final three quarters. He completed 14 times for 245 yards, increasing his success rate. Percentages from 33% in the first frame to 60% in the last three frames.
“I thought he was a great player,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “I thought he got better as the game went on, but I wasn’t surprised by that. It’s been a while since he’s played the ball, but he’s calmed down, shaken off the rust and moved the ball around. I thought we played spread out.” Good. “
Editor’s picks
2 Related
Of course, Wilson heard boos early in the game, but then his steady mentality helped the Steelers recover from a tough start where they went 0-for-3 on third down in the first quarter when an underthrown pass bounced. He said it was helpful. As the Jets’ pass rush approached, grass and other objects were thrown carelessly.
“I really believe in being neutral, not too high, not too low,” Wilson said, following the advice of the late mental conditioning coach Trevor Moawad to “stay the course.” He added that there is.
Wilson compared his performance to a baseball player starting 0-for-2 at bat, but said, “I felt like I was going to get hot.”
“And sure enough, we did,” Wilson said. “…you ride the wave, and once you find it, you can’t let go. And the most important thing is to know who you are, to know your beliefs about yourself, and to know that too. It was the first time I came back and I was like, “Okay, I’m starting to feel it again.” ”
Wilson said that moment came again when he scored his first touchdown of the season with wide receiver George Pickens with 27 seconds left until halftime.
“The moment I threw that first touchdown to George, I thought, ‘Okay, there’s going to be a lot more of this,'” Wilson said. “I believe that sometimes you just need your first home run or your first double, whatever it is. Of course, it’s October, so we’re talking baseball, but I think… When you put in all the hard work, and the players are doing their job, it’s going to be in your favor at some point, and tonight it worked and I’m excited for our football team. “I’m there”
Wilson was right. More points were awaited. He found the end zone twice more, once on a 1-yard sneak and once on a 4-yard throw to wide receiver Van Jefferson for the veteran wide receiver’s first score of the season.
“I thought Arthur Smith did a great job, letting me loose, getting guys open, guys moving around and making some great plays,” Wilson said. “I thought he called a great game. He helped me get into shape. … He said it might take a little while. I didn’t believe it, but it happened, and then we got the groove and we believed it.”
Wilson completed five of six attempts with passes of at least 10 air yards, averaging 24.8 yards per such throw attempt. Wilson also targeted Pickens on deep throws for 92 yards and a touchdown, completing 3 of 4. After the game, Pickens, who had five catches for 111 yards, explained what made their skill sets mesh. “I was locating the ball downfield and Russ was pre-reading what coverage the ball was going to be in before he said hike.”
Before the game, Tomlin made the decision to start Wilson over Fields, who started six games and had a 4-2 record, while Wilson returned from a calf injury suffered in training camp. After the win, former NFL wide receiver and Pittsburgh native Brandon Marshall jumped into Tomlin’s press conference and asked the head coach if the decision to start Wilson was “the boldest.”
“That’s why I get paid so well,” Tomlin said.
Wilson downplayed the idea of infighting within the organization over quarterback decisions.
“We’re in a dire situation right now,” Wilson said. “I think there’s a lot of external noise and it seems like it’s a negative thing, and the internal rivalries aren’t. We just want to win. That’s what we’re focused on. “I’m here.”
“I have to give credit to Justin Fields, everything he can do, how great he’s been playing, he inspires me every day. … He’s great. He’s a quarterback, he’s a franchise quarterback, he’s a great quarterback.” He’s got all the intangibles and anything I can give him and show him and be around him. I have, that’s part of my job.
“I think we just enjoy winning. We enjoy playing ball. … Coach Tomlin believes in all of us and is doing a great job. And this guy is a great soccer coach and we trust him and we know who he is and he’s very transparent about everything else to us as well. is.
“We just love winning. We love being part of the process.”