QB Wilson debuts as 'fantastic' Steelers stroll

PITTSBURGH — As the offense trotted off the field after a third straight three-and-out early in the second quarter Monday night, a listless Acrisar Stadium crowd erupted into loud boos. And if there was any doubt about the primary target of vocal frustration, the chants for Justin Fields made it abundantly clear: Russell Wilson's subpar play and inaccuracies were at the heart of the crowd's discontent.

Two hours and 34 unanswered points later, though, the crowd sang along with Biz Markey and Mac Miller as Wilson quarterbacked the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 37-15 victory over the New York Jets in prime time, setting a franchise record for passing yards and points en route to debuting. goal

Wilson finished his injury-delayed regular-season debut with 264 passing yards and three total touchdowns. And after completing just 2 of 6 attempts for 19 yards in the first quarter — including a 15-yard completion on Darnell Washington's first attempt — Wilson completed 14 of 23 attempts for 245 yards over the final three quarters, increasing his completions to 33% in the first frame. 60% percentage in three.

“I thought he was great,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “I thought he got better as the game went on. But I'm not surprised. It's been a while since he played some balls, but I thought he settled down, cut the rust and distributed the ball around. Good.”

Wilson, of course, heard the boos early in the game, but later said his calm mindset helped him bounce back from a rocky start that saw the Steelers go 0-3 on third down in the first quarter as underthrown passes bounced. Turf and others were haphazardly thrown away as the Jets' pass rush shut down.

“I really believe in staying neutral, not too high, not too low,” Wilson said, adding that he followed the advice of his late mental conditioning coach Trevor Mowad: “Stay in the situation.”

Wilson compared his performance to a baseball player who started 0-for-2 at the plate but said he “looked like I was getting hot.”

“And sure enough, we did,” Wilson said. “… you catch waves, and once you find it, you don't let go. And I think the biggest thing is knowing who you are, knowing that you have faith in yourself, and also knowing that I'm back for the first time, and I Was like, 'Okay, I'm starting to feel it again.'

In that moment he felt it again, Wilson said, as he connected with wide receiver George Pickens for his first touchdown of the season with 27 seconds until halftime.

“Throwing the first touchdown to George was the moment I was like, 'OK, there's going to be more,'” Wilson said. “I believe sometimes it takes that first home run, that first double off the wall, whatever. Obviously, it's October, so I'm talking about baseball, but I think that's when you put in all the hard work, and the guys are doing the work. And at some point it turns in your favor, and it did a great job tonight and I'm excited by our football team.”

Wilson was right. More scores were to come. He found the end zone twice more, once on a 1-yard sneak and again on a 4-yard throw to wide receiver Van Jefferson for his first score of the season.

“I thought Arthur Smith did a great job of letting me tear it up and guys getting open and guys just moving around making great plays,” Wilson said. “I thought he called a great game. He helped me get into a groove. … He said it might take a second. I never believed it, but it happened and then we got into a groove, we believed in it. .”

Wilson completed 5 of 6 pass attempts of at least 10 air yards, averaging 24.8 yards per attempt on such throws. Wilson was also 3 of 4 for 92 yards and a touchdown when targeting Pickens on a deep throw. After the game, Pickens, who finished with five catches for 111 yards, explained what made their skill sets mesh: “I looked at the position of the ball downfield and the pre-read of the rush, what coverage it was before he hiked.”

Before the game, Tomlin took ownership of the decision to start Wilson over Fields, who went 4-2 in six starts while Wilson worked his way back from a training camp calf injury. After the win, former NFL wide receiver and Pittsburgh native Brandon Marshall jumped into Tomlin's press conference and asked the head coach if his decision to start Wilson was “brave.”

“That's why I'm well compensated,” Tomlin said.

Wilson downplays the perception of conflict within the organization surrounding the quarterback decision.

“We're in a horrible situation where we're at,” Wilson said. “I think there's a lot of outside noise that makes it seem like it's a negative thing and this rivalry is internal, and it's not, man. We just want to win. That's what we're focused on.

“I've got to give credit to Justin Fields, man, everything he's been able to do, how great he's been playing, man, he inspires me every day. … He's a great quarterback, he's a franchise quarterback, he's a leader, everything to him. There is ambiguity and whatever I can give him and show him, that's part of my job.

“I think we're having fun winning. We're having fun playing ball. … Coach Tomlin believes in all of us, and he does a tremendous job. And this guy, he's a tremendous football coach, and we believe in him, and We know who he is and he is very transparent with us about everything else.

“We just love to win. We just love to be part of the process.”