4 takeaways from Steelers' win over Giants heading into bye week

Russell Wilson’s debut as the starter raised expectations so significantly that victory over the floundering Big Blue was the bare minimum. A Pittsburgh Steelers win on Monday Night Football over the New York Giants was cast as an inevitability. Style points mattered as much. Wilson had to prove that he could handle the gauntlet that awaits him after their bye week.

Mission accomplished, but he wasn't the only one with something to prove. Additionally, Najee Harris had to continue hitting rushing lanes behind a crumbling offensive line, that offensive line had to prove it would not get Wilson killed by the Giants pass rush, and T.J. Watt had to end his longest career sack drought. The former Defensive Player of the Year had gone two consecutive games without a sack, but needed at least one to avoid his first three-game famine.

There has been some hand-wringing about a decline in the quality of defense being played in Pittsburgh, but that feels like an overreaction. The Beanie Bishop redemption tour continued with a game-ending interception, and Alex Highsmith returned with a bang. Highsmith’s long awaited return last week was quiet last week. In Week 8, he pressured Jones on countless dropbacks and generated a pair of sacks. The Steelers are off next week, but here are a few things that they should build on heading into the break and beyond.

4. Prevent T.J. Watt from being brought to justice

As if T.J. Watt’s weekly assault on quarterbacks isn’t enough, you can add cat burglar to his rap sheet. He struck again on Monday night creeping into the backfield to help seal another win, recording seven tackles, and two sacks. He needed a sack to end his drought. He went above and beyond the minimum, securing two, including a classic strip sack for good measure. Both Watt sacks came courtesy of right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor. Last week, Eluemunor provided the bulletin board material for Watt like some sort of smug big-city detective daring the world’s greatest art thief to infiltrate the local museum and make off with a Picasso. 

“I’m the most confident guy in this locker room,” Eluemunor said earlier in the week, h/t Penn Live. “I think you can see this through my play this year. I want to be on an island with him all day.” 

Ask and ye shall receive. He ended a drive in the second half with a sack, and then on the decisive play of the fourth quarter, with the Giants expressing one last gasp, they forgot to check IDs, swiped Watt through his turnstile, and gave him access to their pocket. The result was Watt’s 22nd career strip sack. 

It shouldn’t be all that surprising that he forced a turnover. There are warrants out for his klepto ways all around the league. No player has forced more fumbles since 2017 when Watt was drafted by the Steelers. He single-handedly changed the direction of their Week 6 win over the Las Vegas Raiders by punching out fumbles left and right. He forced a fumble and turnover while the Cowboys were in scoring position two weeks ago, hustled to a fumbled snap in Week 1 against the Falcons, and had a strip sack negated by a questionable penalty in the season-opener, but still sealed that deal with a sack. Watt smelled blood in the water Monday after Jones forgot to shift the tight end over to Watt while surveying the coverage.

It’s not fair how easy it is for Watt to create havoc. All Watt needs is a slither of a gap or a mistake in blocking assignments to short-circuit an entire offense. The Giants discovered something the Steelers have recently, which is that the only counter to a disruptive defensive monster is a savvy quarterback. 

3. Russell Wilson needs to keep his Mr. Unlimited persona on all game

Something struck me three-quarters of the way through Pittsburgh’s win. The Giants could have had Wilson for the same discount price as the one Pittsburgh acquired him with. Instead, they foolishly thought Daniel Jones was adequate enough instead of pursuing excellence. Mike Tomlin made the opposite decision when he named Wilson the starter. 

During the second half, Troy Aikman recounted how Tomlin told him, "This is not a quarterback-centric team." To an extent, that is true. Watt is the most valuable defensive player in football, and the Steelers employ the most expensive defense. However, Wilson is one of the Steelers planetary bodies and he proved it by stomping on the pedal later in the third quarter, launching a series of deep balls to Calvin Austin, Van Jefferson, and George Pickens, putting the Steelers ahead by 17. 

A week ago, Tomlin said he wanted to see Wilson, “Play winning football and to engineer and construct victory more fluidly.” 

Overly technical jargon aside, that’s exactly what Wilson provided sans a late fumble which nearly put the result in doubt. In two games, Wilson has now thrown for five touchdowns (despite having two negated by a review and penalty, and 542 passing yards, which is more than any Steelers quarterback in his first two games, surpassing Earl Morrall's 504 yards in 1957, according to ESPN’s Research wing. Things got choppy in the end, but the Steelers have to like what they saw in totality. He can get a while to get going, but as the rust wears off, it would be important for him to make more game-changing plays in the first half as well.

2. Special teams make the difference again

At almost every level of the game, Pittsburgh is killing it. Even the special teams played a significant role in the outcome for the fourth week in a row. Heading into Monday night football the Steelers had blocked a kick in three consecutive games. That doesn’t even include the extra point blocked by Minkah Fitzpatrick which was nullified by a leverage penalty that the league office later informed Pittsburgh should have been allowed to stand.

The blocked kick streak came to an end, but Calvin Austin. Ignited Pittsburgh by cutting across the field and turning downfield on down the opposite left sideline to put Pittsburgh ahead 16 to 9. That touchdown kicked off a 17-0 run that the Giants never recovered from. Special teams coach Danny Smith has been in Pittsburgh for over a decade but has probably never been more relevant. Isaiah Loudermilk blocked a field goal against the Cowboys, Jeremiah Moon rejected a punt in Vegas and Dean Lowry deflected a field goal attempt against the Jets. Each time, Smith’s exuberance provides an insight into the man who has turned a no-frills unit into all thrills.

1. Hopefully Najee Harris keeps the engine running during the bye week 

The Steelers' offensive explosion has coincided with Harris rebounding from a horrible start to the season. Defenses now have to pick their poison. Against the Giants, Harris rumbled for a subtle 114 yards on 19 carries while Wilson’s second-half outburst stole the show. Early in the second quarter, Harris accelerated down the sideline, and Deonte Banks, who was benched soon after. 

Prior to the Raiders contest, Harris was averaging fewer than four yards per carry and was getting relentlessly stuffed in the backfield, averaging fewer than three yards per carry in his previous three matchups.

After running less efficiently than Lieutenant Dan, Harris has been harder to stop than fellow Alabama-alum Forrest Gump, gaining six yards per carry and ranking third in total rushing yards over that span behind only Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley. He’s hitting on all cylinders, running angry, and the running game needs to maintain this pace through the bye week.