Five days after joining the Steelers, Mike Williams scored the game-winning touchdown as Pittsburgh recorded a 28-27 win over the Washington Commanders.
Like Wilson, Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels only completed half of his 34 attempts.
Why the Steelers won It wasn’t pretty, but it was a gritty win for Mike Tomlin’s team.
On his game-winning touchdown pass, Wilson heaved the ball into the sky as the Commanders brought the house.
When you visit our properties and use our products and services (“Services”), we use Cookies to analyse and measure our performance, customize content and serve personalized advertisements.
Mike Williams scored the game-winning touchdown as Pittsburgh defeated the Washington Commanders 28-27, just five days after he joined the Steelers.
With 2:22 remaining on a third-and-9 play, Williams caught a 32-yard touchdown pass. Having been traded from the Jets to the Steelers before Tuesday’s trade deadline, it was Williams’ first reception of the day. Russell Wilson, who completed only half of his 28 pass attempts, made a number of spectacular plays, and his catch was the third of three touchdown passes of the day.
Similar to Wilson, rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels of the Commanders only made half of his 34 passes. In the second half, Daniels was successful in getting the ball to Terry McLaurin, who made a 54-yard catch to set up Austin Ekeler’s second of two touchdown runs, increasing Washington’s lead to 24–14. However, when it came to stopping Wilson, wideout George Pickens, and the rest of Pittsburgh’s offense, the Commanders defense found it difficult.
With their current four-game winning streak, the Steelers are still the only team in the AFC North to hold the top spot. With the Eagles’ game against the Cowboys ahead of them, the Commanders are now 7-3 and out of first place in the NFC East.
A closer look at Pittsburgh’s upset victory can be found here.
Why the Steelers prevailed.
Despite the lack of beauty, Mike Tomlin’s team managed to win. The Steelers’ victory was due to a number of factors, but one of the main ones was who was under center.
Wilson spent the majority of the game struggling with accuracy, but as previously mentioned, he and his teammates came through when it mattered most. Wilson responded to the Commanders’ 10-point score by completing passes of 26 yards to Jaylen Warren and 34 yards to Pickens, which allowed Najee Harris to score a 1-yard touchdown run.
Wilson heaved the ball into the air as the Commanders brought the house down with his game-winning touchdown pass. However, Williams beat single coverage after his pass was thrown on the money, demonstrating why the Steelers selected him with a fifth-round pick. On a fourth-and-one, Wilson forced the Commanders to draw offside, iceing the game seconds later. The Steelers were able to end the game in the final minute while keeping Daniels from getting another chance to shoot the ball thanks to the penalty.
Both teams made a lot of mistakes, but the Steelers were better at overcoming them. Three turnovers were committed by the Steelers, including a fumble by Warren that ended a potential scoring drive and an interception by Wilson. By limiting the damage and forcing punts in both situations, the Steelers’ defense came through. In particular, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Damontae Kazee stopped Zach Ertz just short of the sticks with 1:28 remaining, giving Pittsburgh their first fourth down stop of the season against Washington’s offense, which had been 11 of 11 on fourth down conversions.
In the first half, Pittsburgh also avoided a botched fake punt attempt that led to Washington’s first touchdown. A muffed punt return by Washington later “returned” the favor, allowing the Steelers to score their second touchdown.
reasons behind the Commanders’ defeat.
Even though 55 points were scored, neither offense was able to establish a steady rhythm, making the game peculiar. Regarding Washington, Daniels and Co. notably had trouble finding a rhythm, as a short field accounted for 10 of their 27 points.
The number of yards gained on the ground was a significant difference between the two teams. The Commanders ran for only 60 yards on 22 carries, while the Steelers’ ground game, led by Warren and Harris, produced 140 yards on 43 carries. Because of Washington’s difficulties running the ball, Daniels was forced to shoulder too much of the game and was frequently put in clear-cut passing situations. Additionally, it helped the Steelers maintain possession of the ball for more than thirty-six minutes.
Despite some impressive plays in response, Daniels failed to find the end zone and was sacked three times in the second half as Pittsburgh’s pass rush, which had been confined in the first half, eventually made it home. Daniels never contributed on the ground and only hauled in five yards on three carries.
On defense, the Commanders were unable to make the Steelers seem uninteresting. Pickens caught five passes for 91 yards, including his spectacular first-quarter touchdown that opened the scoring, and they also had trouble stopping him.
McLaurin (113 yards on five catches), defensive back Jeremy Chinn (13 tackles, an interception, and a fumble recovery), and Dante Fowler Jr. all had strong games for Washington during the loss. Zane Gonzalez, the team’s new kicker, made all of his field goal attempts and recorded two sacks.
turning point or game play.
Wilson’s touchdown pass to Williams gave the visiting Steelers the lead for good and altered the course of the game. Prior to throwing an accurate ball to Williams, who made an equally impressive over-the-shoulder catch, Wilson stared down Washington’s hard-charging pass rush.
Remarkable.
“I’ve seen it on highlight shows a few times. Trust me, it’s a bit better in person. — Tomlin on the game-winning deep ball that Wilson famously hit.
Next steps.
On Thursday night, the Commanders will travel to Philadelphia to play one of the most important games between the top teams in the NFC East. Next week, the Steelers will travel back to Pittsburgh to play the Ravens, which will decide who will win the AFC North.
Your privacy.
The use of cookies and related technologies (henceforth referred to as “Cookies”) and their management are described in this page. Please refer to our Privacy Policy for additional details.
The save settings button below will save your preferences. The consent settings module allows you to modify your settings whenever you’d like. Please be aware that the specific browser and/or device you use to access our services is connected to your saving preferences. If you save your preferences in one Paramount Service, they won’t impact your selections in other Paramount Services, or if you visit this service from a different browser or device. Furthermore, it won’t have an impact on any of your third-party service activities. Using industry-specific programs or controlling your browser’s or device’s preferences are two more options for controlling cookies and other online tracking technologies. Please refer to our Privacy Policy for additional details.
necessary.
Active at all times.
For our services to operate properly, these cookies are necessary. In our systems, essential cookies cannot be disabled. The service will not function properly if you configure your device to block or warn you about these cookies.
Performance and analysis.
Always in motion.
We are able to gather data about how users interact with our properties thanks to these cookies. We can measure and enhance the effectiveness of our services by, for instance, tracking visits and traffic sources. We won’t be able to track performance if you reject these cookies, and we won’t know when people have visited our properties.
practical.
Always in motion.
The services’ improved functionality and personalization are made possible by these cookies. They could be established by us or by outside companies whose services we have integrated into our offerings. Some or all of these services might not work correctly if you reject these cookies.
Promoting and advertising.
Always in motion.
social media.
Active at all times.
A variety of social media platforms that we have integrated into the services to allow you to share our content with your friends and networks are responsible for setting these cookies. They have the ability to follow your browser around other websites and create an interest profile that allows them to display relevant content and ads on the appropriate social networks. You might not be able to see or use these sharing tools if you reject these cookies.
