The Russell Wilson era of Steelers football began Sunday night against the Jets. The Steelers won in a 37-15 rout. For Steelers fans, the game was the best game they had played all season. The lackluster offense the Steelers had under Justin Fields became dynamic under Russell Wilson.
Face it, the Steelers lacked a passing game with Justin Fields. Not so much because he can't pass; the Steelers did not want him to. They wanted to limit Justin Fields's mistakes, which worked in their favor. They went 4-2 with Fields at the helm. However, what the Steelers got with Russell Wilson was vastly different. It was what we thought could happen during the preseason, but it was what we had not been able to see.
What changed in the Sunday night game with Russell Wilson
Then the gun sounded to end the game. The Jets had allowed Russell Wilson to put up the most passing yards in a Steelers quarterback debut since Earl Morrall. In his first game as a Steelers, Morrall put up 249 passing yards and went 15 of 32. Russell Wilson went 16 of 29 for 264 yards in his debut performance. In his debut performance as a starter, even Ben Roethlisberger only put up 163 yards. Though, in fairness, his first game was in the remnants of a hurricane.
However, that aside, did you, as a fan, notice any other changes in the Steelers' offense? Perhaps so. George Pickens had 111 yards receiving, Pat Freiermuth had 51 yards, and Calvin Austin had 36 yards. Najee Harris had 102 rushing yards, his first 100-plus rushing game of the season.
Najee Harris's lack of success in the earlier part of the season came from the Steelers' lack of an effective passing game in all the games except the Raiders game. Credit a bad Raiders defense. However, against the Jets, Russell Wilson stretched the field much more than Fields had previously, opening up rushing lanes for Harris. And he just wore the Jets down in the latter quarters.
If you want blunt honesty, it was the Steelers' best overall performance since Ben Roethlisberger retired. This is not only because of what Russell Wilson brought to the Steelers but also because of two Beanie Bishop interceptions and two blocked field goal attempts by the Jets. Although the Refs made a bad call on the first blocked field goal, penalizing the Steelers for leverage, it did not come back to haunt the Steelers.
Once the game ended, the Steelers looked like possible contenders to play in the AFC championship game this January. All thanks to Mike Tomlin for sticking to his guns and giving Russell Wilson his chance to lead the Steelers' offense. After what Fans saw, short of an injury, how do the Steelers return to Justin Fields after Russell Wilson's initial performance?