Calvin Austin returned a punt 73 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter, then caught a 29-yard touchdown pass from Russell Wilson early in the fourth as the Steelers outdistanced the Giants, 26-18, last night, earning the 100th primetime win in franchise history.
Chris Boswell kicked four field goals for the Steelers, matching the four by the Giants’ Greg Joseph. They also overcame two touchdown receptions by George Pickens that were nullified by the officials, one on a facemask penalty on tackle Broderick Jones and the other when it was ruled Pickens failed to tap his left foot down in bounds.
Najee Harris ran for 114 yards for the Steelers, while the Giants’ Tyrone Tracy ran wild on the Steelers defense, piling up 145 yards rushing, including a 45-yard touchdown run. While they gave up way too many yards, the Steelers’ defense was opportunistic, with a TJ Watt strip sack and a Beanie Bishop interception in the fourth quarter.
The Steelers enter their bye week in first place in the AFC North, a game up on Baltimore. Coach Mike Tomlin says the rest is needed.
Tomlin says the Steelers turned it up in the second half after it was 9-9 heading into the locker room.
The Steelers had four sacks of Daniel Jones, two each by edge rushers Watt and Alex Highsmith. The coach says Watt’s strip sack and fumble recovery are typical TJ.
Tomlin will have plenty to digest when he looks at the video of the game. One is the huge rushing game by the G-men’s Tracy. But he’s not concerned.
The Steelers patchwork offensive line, which has had to replace a starting tackle, guard, and center, is doing the job. He singled out center Ryan McCollum, who started again in place of Zach Frazier.
Russell Wilson was 20 of 28 for 274 yards and one touchdown, and would have had two more except for the miscues on the Pickens passes. He says the Steelers took a couple of shots but answered the adversity.
Watt says the Steelers defense came up big when it counted most.
Austin had a breakout game. He likes the Steelers’ big-play possibilities.
The Steelers yesterday placed rookie wide receiver Roman Wilson on injured reserve with a hamstring injury. He’s played only one game this season after suffering a training camp ankle injury. The third round draft pick will be eligible to return after four games.
After three straight night games, the Steelers return to the traditional one o’clock Sunday format. Next up after the bye week is a game on November 10th at Washington.
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