Steelers takeaways: 5 overreactions after Pittsburgh’s 37-15 win over the New York Jets

The Steelers avenged their Week 5 disappointment against the Dallas Cowboys in prime time by significantly exceeding expectations in Week 7 Football on Sunday eveningsand defeated the New York Jets with a convincing final score of 37-15. As always, there are lots of souvenirs:

Good or bad performance, Russell Wilson was always the story of that week’s game. I’ll be honest, even though I was never quite as disappointed with Russ as the others, I wanted the Steelers to stick with Justin Fields in Week 7. But Mike Tomlin proved he was right when he brought the veteran into the game.

However, things weren’t so happy at the beginning. Boos rained down on Wilson midway through the first half. They were premature, but not entirely unjustified. Wilson obviously didn’t have the agility of Fields, and after two incredibly bad underthrows, he didn’t look much better in the passing game.

But a broken Jets secondary gave Wilson a chance to shake off the Russt early, and he did. 264 passing yards and three total touchdowns; No turnovers, a 30+ point day and the biggest win of the season. What a debut.

Wilson deserves all the praise he’ll get this week and more, especially after a dismal last two years that left many doubting his abilities.

But I have my criticisms, and before you yell at me in the comments section, feel free to browse through my previous articles and see that it also took me a while to get comfortable with Justin Fields. Wilson looked good, not great, on Sunday.

However, we can start with the good. Wilson was active before the snap and seemed to have more control of the offense than Fields ever did. The All-22 will reveal the truth, but it also felt like he was seeing the field better.

And while Wilson was brought down on a few plays where Fields would have gained more distance with his legs, he wasn’t a statue in the pocket either. It was particularly impressive given the Pittsburgh O-line’s early struggles.

Wilson’s ball placement wasn’t the sharpest all night, but one big change from Fields was the air he placed under passes (that’s overused, but “moon ball”). Instead of throwing throws downfield, Wilson arced his passes to give his receivers a better chance to get into position to make big catches. George Pickens’ 111 yards and one touchdown reflect this.

It’s worth noting that Wilson benefited from many circus catches throughout the game, once again avoiding the middle of the field like the plague and going toe-to-toe in the secondary against a Jets defense that beat most of its starters.

Is that the case with Justin Fields? No. Apparently apparently Stay with Russ next week.

But don’t crown the Steelers’ season as fundamentally different just yet. It’s just a game that still needs a lot of work. On the other hand, one might think that after his first game of the season, Wilson has no other option but to go up. Sunday’s debut was good news.

2. Big Game Beanie Bishop

Russell Wilson had his critics, but no one had more doubters on the Steelers than UDFA slot corner Beanie Bishop Jr., who was widely considered the weakest link in the Pittsburgh defense entering Week 7. New York faces Davante Adams and Garrett Wilson, Allen Lazard and Mike Williams on Sunday, the slot looked like a promising matchup for the Jets’ offense. Even I highlighted Bishop as a likely target in Gang Green Nation’s “Five Questions with the Enemy” segment leading up to the game.

Instead, Bishop responded with the first two interceptions of his young career against a future Hall of Famer in Aaron Rodgers. I’m not sure it gets any sweeter.

The first was an absurd one-handed grab, while the second was more of a gift after a drop from Garett Wilson (Perhaps Bishop had one hand on the ball to influence it). But that second interception and subsequent runback was also the point in the game where the tide finally turned in Pittsburgh’s favor.

If Bishop can continue to step up, it would be a huge boost for the Pittsburgh defense, which has been trying to fill the nickel corner position long-term since the departure of Mike Hilton. And the better Bishop plays, the less we’ll see of Cam Sutton post-suspension. There are countless reasons to root for the UDFA corner’s success this season.

3. Special plays on special teams

Nearly everyone on Pittsburgh’s special teams deserves a gold star after Sunday’s game. Chris Boswell was perfect once again. Corliss Waitman landed three of his four punts inside the 20-yard line and punt coverage has gone from a weakness to a strength this season. Former first-round pick Terrell Edmunds was a surprisingly excellent addition as a shooter.

But the blocked kicks are the real story. One was called back for a ticky-tack leverage penalty on Minkah Fitzpatrick, but the Steelers later got one that counted, this time on a field goal attempt that would have given New York some much-needed momentum in the second half . Instead, a wall of Steelers defenders rose in the middle of the formation and the Jets remained scoreless for the final 30 minutes of the game.

With the punt unit issues seemingly resolved this year, Danny Smith’s group has been excellent. It was a dominant special teams performance against the Jets.

4. What we expected… finally

There was a lot of well-deserved hype surrounding the Steelers’ running back duo of Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren heading into 2024, but they haven’t lived up to the hype in the first quarter of the season. Harris struggled behind the Steelers’ offensive line while Warren clearly wasn’t healthy.

Against the Raiders, Harris finally had a big game, but things clicked for both defenders this week. Najee had another 100-yard performance, averaging nearly five per carry and a touchdown. Warren finally saw a decent workload and looked explosive as usual, recording 44 rushing yards, 15 receiving yards and three total first downs, including a big third-and-long conversion on the drive that eventually put the Steelers over would put two scores in the lead.

Due to the myriad of injuries, the Steelers’ O-line continues to be a liability in pass protection, but under the leadership of guard Isaac Seumalo, their performance in the run game has shown promise in recent weeks. If you want Pittsburgh’s passing game to continue making progress, a running game to keep the defense honest is an important step, and it looks like the Steelers finally have the wherewithal to make it happen.

5. Little things

• Alex Highsmith had a great game on Sunday where the pressure led to a series of poor throws from Rodgers. Having him back on the roster was a huge boost for Pittsburgh.
• The Jets’ quick passing game meant the Steelers would have a difficult time getting home to the quarterback. Instead, the pass rush responded by putting its hands in the air and blocking several crucial throws – a great adjustment by the defense.
• Pittsburgh’s defense showed some creative pressure on Sunday. Credit is due, Teryl Austin. Having a number of scrimmage demons like DeShon Elliott at safety must also help.
• I’ll have to check later, but it looks like James Pierre had a good outing at cornerback in place of the injured Donte Jackson. New York didn’t have much to offer offensively in the second half.
• I desperately need an update on Beanie Bishop Jr.’s efforts to get Aaron Rodgers to sign his intercepted footballs.
• Offensive coordinator Arthur Smith also deserves credit after taking a lot of criticism in recent weeks. The Steelers scored on every drive in the second half, the ball was moving in both the running game and the passing game, and there were open wide receivers.

• It was nice to see Van Jefferson finally make a big play with a touchdown grab against the Jets. The Steelers still need more at WR2, but Jefferson contributed to the win.

• Darnell Washington’s four catches wasn’t a stat I ever thought I’d see. It’s good to see Pittsburgh include him.

• Wilson was on fire in the second half, but I’m still surprised we never saw a Justin Fields package during the game. I still think it will be used at some point later this season, as every Wilson quarterback sneak had me holding my breath.
• Ryan McCollum at center deserves some credit. He didn’t have the cleanest game, but Quinnen Williams was barely mentioned on the broadcast.
• On Sunday, the referees were omnipresent, blowing the whistle too early on some plays and then setting a precedent by unnecessarily harshly confronting Larry Ogunjobi, only to never blow the whistle again.
• While it worked out great, I’m not sure why the Steelers felt the need to keep trying on fourth down during their final drive. Kick the easy field goal, go up by three points and secure victory.
• Breece Hall’s 141 total yards is unacceptable, especially considering the number of open field tackles missed by the Steelers. If there’s anything to work on after their big win, this is it.
• Davante Adams lost to the same team two weeks in a row…not important, but kinda funny.

Next, the Steelers have an extra day to prepare for Week 8 Monday Night Football against the New York Giants. A 5-2 start was great, but 6-2 is even better.

What do you take away from Steelers vs. Jets? Do you agree/disagree with the above points?Join our Behind The Steel Curtain community and let us know in the comments!