Russell Wilson’s Steelers debut was worth the wait.
A calf injury kept Wilson from starting in Week One and Justin Fields remained the team’s quarterback through the first six weeks of the season, but a change was made before Sunday night’s game against the Jets. It took Wilson a little while to get into the groove, but the Steelers scored on their final five offensive possessions and scored a 37-15 home win.
Wilson was 16-of-29 for 264 yards and two touchdowns and the Steelers averaged a season-high 6.3 yards per play while connecting on four passing plays that covered at least 25 yards. That was a big change for a team that had 13 such plays in the first six weeks and head coach Mike Tomlin showered the quarterback with praise after the game.
“I thought he was excellent,” Tomlin said, via the team’s website. “I thought he got better as the game went on. But I’m not surprised by that. It’s been a while since he played some ball, but I thought he settled in, knocked the rust off and distributed the ball around and played well.”
Running back Najee Harris said that Wilson made the offense “multidimensional” and shared his belief that having that at your disposal is “how you go far in the playoffs.” There’s a long way to go before we get to that point, but Sunday night showed what might be possible in Pittsburgh over the next few months.
