The Pittsburgh Steelers are 5-2 and sit atop the AFC North after a 37-15 win over the New York Jets. In what was a second straight huge win for the Steelers, there was a lot to like, so let’s get into it.

Varsity

QB Russell Wilson

I’m eating my crow now. I hated the idea of ​​switching quarterbacks; it seemed so logical to me. And after three straight three-and-outs, I was ready for a change. But then Wilson and the offense settled down. He finished the game 16-of-29 for 264 yards and two touchdowns, and added a rushing touchdown from the goal line, giving him three total scores on the night. His 264 yards are the most in team history for a quarterback making his Steelers debut, and the offense put on a show en route to 31 unanswered points.

CB hat bishop

Beanie Bishop’s first interception of Aaron Rodgers completely changed the course of the game. It led to the Steelers scoring their first touchdown just before halftime and pulling within two. His second interception set up Russell Wilson to sneak off the one yard line, putting the Steelers up eight. Bishop has had plenty of rough patches in the first two months of the season, but this was a great performance from an undrafted rookie who helped Pittsburgh turn the tide.

RB Najee Harris

Harris had his second consecutive 100-yard rushing game, and it looks like Arthur Smith is figuring out just having him run north to south instead of back and forth to find the yardage. He’s becoming the consistent, big defender that Pittsburgh hoped he would be when they drafted him. Maybe that will lead to him returning to Pittsburgh on a new deal.

W. George Pickens

Pickens made multiple contested catches, which has become for him what Sweet Chin Music was for Shawn Michaels. He had five receptions for 111 yards and a touchdown.

TEs Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington

Freiermuth only had two catches, but they were for 21 and 30 yards respectively. Darnell Washington also deserves kudos here, since we’re talking about tight ends. The two big pass-catching options caught a combined six passes for 87 yards.

LB Payton Wilson

Wilson was all over the field, leading the team with 10 tackles and seemingly always being where the ball was. A good evening for the rookie.

S DeShon Elliott

Elliott is a legitimate All-Pro so far in the season. He has such a high football IQ, always finds his way to the ball carrier, comes in from the secondary to make tackles in the backfield (he had another TFL on Sunday), and has consistently been the Swiss army knife of this team. he had six tackles, the aforementioned tackle for loss, and a hit on Aaron Rodgers.

CB Joey Porter Jr

Davante Adams had just three catches for 30 yards on the night – the newest addition to Porter Island.

DL Larry Ogunjobi

Ogunjobi had two tackles and the Steelers’ only sack that night on Rodgers. He had three more hits on the quarterback, so he was consistently wreaking havoc.

DL Dean Lowry

Lowry blocked the Jets field goal that kept the game at 23-15 and led to Pittsburgh driving down the field and making it a 30-15 game. This is the second time this season the Steelers have blocked a punt Sunday night football.

OC Arthur Smith

Art was in his bag like it was a… More frightening film. Whether it was efficient runs with Harris and Jaylen Warren or deep shots to Pickens, or a great scissor concept that left Calvin Austin completely exposed for a 36-yard gain, Smith called a fantastic play. The Steelers finished with over 400 yards of offense and scored over 30 points in consecutive weeks.

HC Mike Tomlin

Very few people defended Tomlin’s decision to draft Wilson, but he looks like a genius right now. We all have our doubts when it comes to Tomlin’s shortcomings, but we also have to give credit where it’s due.

Junior Varsity

Tackle it

The Steelers’ open-field tackling was terrible. Several times, their lack of ability to bring down Breece Hall led to big wins. He had catches of 18, 13 and 57 yards.

Finishing

While Pittsburgh was able to score four shots from the red zone, they could have had more. On the first drive, they had a good series of plays that were suddenly stopped and they settled for a 46-yard field goal. They found themselves in the red zone again in the first half, finding themselves in the shadow of the goal line and failing to hit six. Pittsburgh needs to get better at ending the game earlier, instead of everything coming together later.