Steelers’ Russell Wilson Knew Offensive Turnaround Was Coming

Russell Wilson’s first start for the Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t exactly get off on the right foot, but it didn’t take long for him and the rest of the offense to turn things around.

During his postgame press conference following the Steelers’ 37-15 win over the New York Jets in Week 7, Wilson told reporters that while he lagged behind to open the contest, it just felt like a matter of time before things would start to click on all cylinders.

“I started off 0-for-2, but it felt like I was gonna get hot,” Wilson said. “I kept telling coach ‘Hey, I’m gonna get hot here.’ And sure enough, we did. We did a great job. The guys did a tremendous job up front.”

Pittsburgh kicked a field goal on the first drive of the game to give itself an early lead, but it would be a while before they added to that total. The offense stalled out on its next three series, all of which were three-and-outs, while New York went ahead following a Breece Hall rushing touchdown.

The Steelers embarked on a nine-play, 58-yard possession early in the second quarter that led them down into the red zone, though they ultimately settled for another kick from Chris Boswell to make it 7-6. The Jets would go on to score another touchdown that extended their advantage to 15-6, but everything came up in Pittsburgh’s favor from that point forward.

Wilson hit George Pickens for an 11-yard score with 27 seasons remaining in the first half, representing the first of five-straight scoring drives to close out the contest. The Steelers outscored New York 24-0 over the final two quarters while looking like a completely different team on the offensive side of the ball, as Wilson made team history and pulled off highlight plays to secure the win after fans had booed him just hours earlier.

Given that he hadn’t appeared in a game since the preseason finale and battled through a reaggravation of his calf injury for over a month, it’s no surprise that Wilson had to shake off the rust and thus came out a bit slow on Sunday night. Once he found his footing, however, he and the rest of the team never looked back and cruised to one of their most impressive victories in recent memory.

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