Ray Fittipaldo's Steelers report card: Russell Wilson's first start pays off big for George Pickens, rest of offense

Ray Fittipaldo / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Steelers insider Ray Fittipaldo grades each aspect of the Steelers’ 37-15 victory against the Jets.

Quarterback

Russell Wilson can still throw the deep ball. Wilson had a 44-yard completion to George Pickens and drew a flag for 29 yards on Sauce Gardner when Pickens was the target. That pass interference penalty set up an 11-yard touchdown pass to Pickens just before halftime. One of the biggest plays of the game came on third-and-goal early in the fourth quarter when Wilson threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Van Jefferson. He finished 16 of 29 for 264 yards and a quarterback rating of 109.0. Not bad for his first start in the past 11 months.

Grade: A

Running backs

Najee Harris is starting to get a big-play reputation. He ripped off a couple of more long runs against the Jets. He had a 34-yarder in the fourth quarter and an 18-yarder in the first quarter. He finished with 102 yards and scored the final touchdown of the game. Jaylen Warren chipped in with 44 yards rushing and 15 receiving.

Grade: B+

Receivers

George Pickens was the biggest beneficiary of the change at quarterback. After being nearly invisible in some games when Justin Fields was the quarterback, Pickens had five catches for 111 yards and scored his first touchdown of the season. Jefferson also scored his first touchdown of the season. In all, six pass catchers had at least one catch of 10 yards or more, including a 36-yarder to Calvin Austin and a 30-yarder to tight end Pat Freiermuth. Who says the Steelers need to trade for a receiver?

Grade: B+

Offensive line

It wasn’t a great start for the line. The offense had something going late in the second quarter after Pat Freiermuth had a 30-yard catch to the Jets 40, but a holding penalty on Dan Moore and a sack given up by Broderick Jones on consecutive plays killed the drive. They got better in the second half, and perhaps the best news was center Ryan McCollum played well. He’ll have to play at least one more game for Zach Frazier.

Grade: B-

Defensive line

Larry Ogunjobi sacked Aaron Rodgers to end the first Jets drive of the game, but he committed a personal foul penalty on the second drive. The 15-yard penalty gave the Jets better field position, and they ended up scoring a touchdown. Cam Heyward and Keeanu Benton had two tackles apiece, and Benton batted down an Aaron Rodgers pass to end a drive in the fourth quarter. 

Grade: B

Linebackers

Payton Wilson was all over the field and finished with a team-high nine tackles. Elandon Roberts and Patrick Queen failed to tackle Breece Hall near the line of scrimmage, and Hall turned the short pass into a 57-yard gain midway through the second quarter. Rodgers threw a touchdown pass to Jack Conklin two plays later to give the Jets an early lead. The Jets double-teamed T.J. Watt and held him without a sack, but Alex Highsmith had four tackles and two quarterback hurries.

Grade: B

Secondary

Beanie Bishop had the first two interceptions of his career, and both set up the offense for touchdowns, including his 31-yard return to the 1 midway through the third quarter. The undrafted free agent rookie wears No. 31, the same number as Hall of Famer Donnie Shell, who was an undrafted rookie in 1974 and was in attendance Sunday night. Joey Porter Jr. and James Pierre, in for an injured Donte Jackson, did a nice job on Davante Adams and Garrett Wilson. Adams had just three catches for 30 yards. 

Grade: A

Special teams

The Steelers had a blocked field goal or punt for a third consecutive game. Defensive lineman Dean Lowry blocked a 35-yard field goal late in the third quarter to keep the lead at eight. Minkah Fitzpatrick also blocked an extra point, but the officials mistakenly called a penalty on him for leverage, which led to the Jets throwing a 2-point conversion pass. And, of course, Chris Boswell was money. He made four more field goals to give him 20 for the season. 

Grade: A

Coaching

Mike Tomlin made the bold decision to start Russell Wilson after Justin Fields led the Steelers to a 32-19 victory over the Raiders in Las Vegas. It turns out, for one game at least, that Tomlin pushed the right button. Wilson was efficient and gave the offense a different dimension with his passing. The 37 points the Steelers scored were the most since they put up 37 in a loss to the Chargers in 2021. The defense, under the direction of Tomlin and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, held their opponent to 15 points or less for the fifth time in seven games. 

Grade: A