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Feats of Strength: George Pickens, Russell Wilson, new additions come up huge as Steelers edge Commanders | TribLIVE.com
Steelers/NFL

Feats of Strength: George Pickens, Russell Wilson, new additions come up huge as Steelers edge Commanders

Tim Benz
Tim Benz

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Steelers receiver George Pickens avoids the Commanders’ Mike Sainristil and Juan Martin in the third quarter Sunday.

It was a wild scene in Washington, D.C.

Western Pennsylvania was very much in the spotlight. Lots of emotional swings. Plenty of ups and downs. A big comeback. Quite a few surprises.

And I’m just talking about Tuesday during Election Day. They hadn’t even gotten to the football game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Commanders yet.

As it turns out, Blue State versus Red State was a pretty good opening act for black and gold versus burgundy and gold, as the Steelers improved to 7-2 with a 28-27 rollercoaster of a win over the 7-3 Commanders on Sunday afternoon.

Let’s recap everything in this week’s “Feats of Strength” and “Airing of Grievances.”

Just from the football game, I mean. If you are mad about the election, go to Facebook. That’s why it was invented.

I think.

Feats of strength

Welcome to ‘tahn!: Down 27-21, with receiver Calvin Austin injured, the Steelers put new acquisition Mike Williams into the game late in the fourth quarter.

On a third-and-9 from the Washington 32-yard line with just over two minutes left, quarterback Russell Wilson chucked a deep ball into the air and let his new wideout run underneath it for what proved to be the game-winning score.

“It’s a credit to Mike. Studying the film. All the extra time we put in this week. Just having confidence in the people around you,” Wilson said of Williams.

That was Williams’ first target of the afternoon in his first game as a Steeler.

Defensive stand: After Williams’ touchdown, the Steelers defense came up with a huge stop.

The Commanders only needed a field goal to regain the lead. They started at the 35 after a decent kick return and then converted a 14-yard pass to Noah Brown on the second snap.

From there, though, Pittsburgh’s Keeanu Benton made a great tackle to prevent what could’ve been a lengthy scramble by Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels. Linebacker T.J. Watt smacked Daniels’ arm on a second-down pass attempt to force an incompletion. James Pierre hustled to get back into a play and contested a throw to Brown that probably should’ve been caught. But at least Pierre got back in the play and made things difficult.

Then, on fourth down from midfield, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Damontae Kazee stopped tight end Zach Ertz a yard short of the line needed to keep the drive alive.

The Steelers managed to get the ball back on downs despite losing Alex Highsmith to an ankle injury on first down and cornerback Donte Jackson earlier in the game to a hamstring.

Praise for Pickens: George Pickens was outstanding. He had five catches for 91 yards and a first-half touchdown.

The touchdown catch was particularly special as he made a wonderful adjustment on the ball.

Pickens also had a 34-yard catch and run, along with a sweet reception near the sideline when Wilson dropped it in a bucket to him.

“Letting the ball loose, that’s one of the biggest components of his game, trusting the receivers,” Pickens said of Wilson. “When it’s a certain coverage, when you see certain space — front pylon, back pylon — he’s going to release it. His mentality for throwing the ball is superb.”

Pickens is averaging 92 yards per game and has 14 catches with two touchdowns since Wilson became the starter three games ago.

Cam can: Defensive lineman Cam Heyward can still get it done. He had two sacks and a pass deflection as well.

The 35-year-old was also the leader of a defensive line that limited the Commanders to just 60 yards rushing on 22 attempts.

A couple of other defensive standouts include DeShon Elliott. He had six strong tackles, including one for a loss. Also, new Steeler Preston Smith had three tackles, including two for a loss.

Washington only stayed on the field for 23 minutes, 49 seconds. The Commanders were the fourth-best offense on third downs coming into the game. They only converted five third-down attempts in 14 tries Sunday.

Not only that, but the fourth-down stop of Ertz was Washington’s first failed fourth-down attempt in 12 tries this season.

That never works!: The game-deciding play occurred when the Steelers were able to draw the Commanders offside on fourth down with barely over a minute remaining.

It was rookie defensive lineman Jer’Zhan Newton who was busted for a neutral-zone infraction on a 4th-and-1.

After the game, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was asked if he was really planning to snap the ball on that play.

“We’ll never know, will we,” Tomlin replied.

The Steelers were able to kneel out the clock from there. Both teams ended up with five penalties apiece.

Airing of grievances

The fake punt: Up 7-0 in the first quarter, the Steelers ran a fake punt from their own 16-yard line. Miles Killebrew took a direct snap and threw a good ball to a wide-open Pierre, and he dropped it.

“That’s me. I own that. I’d do it again,” Tomlin said. “We didn’t execute it, so it was a bad idea.”

On social media, way too many people tried to defend this play just because the design worked.

Yeah. It did. If Pierre catches the ball, we are all praising the call. But he didn’t, which is at the root of my complaint.

You have one defensive back throwing to another defensive back. A lot can go wrong in that equation. Something did. That’s too much risk from your own 16-yard line. To that point, the defense had forced a pair of three-and-outs.

If the play doesn’t work, it’s at least a free field goal. The Commanders scored a touchdown to tie the score, and the complexion of the game changed.

I’m not second-guessing. I’m first-guessing. That should be a punt 101 times out of 100.

Bad day for JPJ: This is not the kind of hat trick Pittsburghers want to see.

Joey Porter Jr. had three first-half penalties. One for a facemask, two more for defensive pass interference.

Despite decent coverage, Porter was also beaten by Terry McLaurin on a 28-yard catch late in the third quarter out of the slot.

A couple of other Steelers who had rough days or moments include running back Jaylen Warren. He fumbled at the 1-yard line in the fourth quarter.

Watt failed to register a tackle, let alone a sack. Najee Harris was held to 53 yards on 21 carries, snapping a streak of 100-yard games after three in a row.

A bridge too far: The Commanders bridged halftime with two scoring drives.

At the end of the second quarter, they marched 94 yards for a score over 15 plays. Then they opened up the third quarter with a five-play, 71-yard scoring drive, which featured a 54-yard pitch-and-catch from Daniels to McLaurin.

That’s 165 yards allowed by the defense over 7 minutes, 28 seconds.

However, credit the defense not only for that stop of Ertz in the fourth quarter but also for the previous sequence when Teryl Austin’s unit forced the Commanders into a three-and-out from their own goal line, which maintained a field-position advantage.

The Steelers started the ensuing drive in Washington territory. It resulted in the touchdown pass from Wilson to Williams.

Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.

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