Photo taken by yours truly at the David Gilmour concert at Madison Square Garden, November 9th, 2024

When Russell Wilson perfectly executed a hard count with 1:02 remaining yesterday to draw Washington defensive lineman Johnny Newton offsides on 4th and 1 at midfield and seal a 28-27 victory over the 7-2 Commanders, a sigh of relief left my anxious body. 

Merely a few weeks ago, it would have been inconceivable that the Steelers would be able to win a game during which they encountered multiple setbacks, none greater than the ten-point deficit they faced after allowing a touchdown on the opening drive of the second half. Nevertheless, Pittsburgh emerged victorious, and will host Baltimore next week with a chance to improve to 8-2. 

For the first quarter-plus, I was on a train back to Boston from New York City, as my brother and I had seen David Gilmour perform at Madison Square Garden the previous night. It was an incredible concert, and was well worth the approximately nine-hours of round-trip train rides in a 27-hour period. Plus, I was able to watch the game on my phone, which was an added benefit.

The Steelers won the coin toss and, for some reason, took the ball first. I am never a huge fan of that, but it is what it is. They promptly went three-and-out and punted. Washington did the same with their first possession.

Pittsburgh got the ball on their own 30 for their second drive. The first play was a pass over the middle to Pat Freiermuth that fell incomplete, but he was impeded by the Commanders’ defensive back, and the Steelers gained 14 yards on a defensive pass interference call. 8 plays later, a Russell Wilson pass to George Pickens, who contorted his body in mid-air to snag the ball, would open the scoring, as the Georgia product landed in the end zone for the touchdown. It was 7-0, good guys.

Washington would go three-and-out again, and punt the ball back to the Steelers, who would set up shop at their own 21. Russ was sacked on the first play of the drive for a loss of 8. That sack was followed by an incompletion and a three-yard Jaylen Warren run, and would presumably lead to a punt on 4th-and-15 from their own 16. WRONG! The Steelers faked the punt, with Miles Killebrew getting the snap and throwing to a wide open James Pierre on the left sideline for what was an easy first down conversion…except he dropped the pass. What should have extended the drive would instead turn into seven points for Washington, as it took them only three plays to capitalize on the dropped pass and punch it in with Austin Ekeler.

At that point, I thought the game might have been over. We had seen the Steelers struggle so much in recent years to overcome even the smallest obstacle. However, Washington made their own mistakes. After a series of punts by each team, the Commanders’ punt returner—Olamide Zaccheaus—muffed a punt from Corliss Waitman, and it was recovered by Ben Skowronek, setting the Steelers up at the Washington 14. Five plays later, Pat Freiermuth caught a three-yard touchdown pass to re-establish a seven-point lead for the Steelers.

Teryl Austin’s defensive unit was poor for the rest of the half, especially in the penalty department, as was evidenced on the ensuing drive. A defensive holding (declined) and a pass interference (accepted) occurred on back-to-back plays, and then offsetting personal fouls a play later. Eventually, Washington would kick a 48-yard field goal to trim the lead to 14-10. The Steelers would get the ball back, pick up one first down, and then punt, pinning the Commanders at their own six with 5:49 left. 

A slow, methodical, 94-yard drive led by Jayden Daniels would put the Commanders up 17-14 with 16 seconds left in the half. On that drive, an Alex Highsmith sack was erased by two penalties on the same play (a defensive holding and a facemask), and an incompletion on second-and-goal led to another set of downs because of a pass interference call on Joey Porter Jr. 

At halftime, the Steelers were down 3. Russ was 7/15 for 48 yards and 2 touchdowns. The running game was underperforming, with 57 yards on 17 carries (3.35 average). Washington’s offense was not exactly sizzling, either, with just 16 more total yards than the Steelers. How would the second half play out? 

The first play was…disastrous. After the kickoff was returned by Austin Ekeler to the 29, Jayden Daniels hit Terry McLaurin on a slant route, and he just took off, running full steam ahead until he was brought down by Porter at the Steelers’ 17. It was a 54-yard gain when all was said and done.

Maybe the defense could keep them out of the end zone? It looked promising, as Daniels ran for no gain on first down and threw an incompletion the following play. However, on third down, he hit McLaurin for 16 yards, getting down to the 1. One play later, backup running back Jeremy McNichols found pay dirt, extending the lead to 10. The hill looked too steep to climb for a team not built to score a billion points, especially with the defense not showing any signs of being able to stop Washington.

And, yet, the Steelers marched on. They gained 11 on their first play of the ensuing drive on a Najee Harris run. Then, on third-and-eight in the following set of downs, Russ hit Jaylen Warren for a 26-yard pass. Wilson was sacked for a 10-yard loss the next play, but hit George Pickens for 34 the play after that, getting down to the Washington 12. A few plays later, Najee ran it in from one yard out. 24-21—the Steelers were back within 3.

Washington would be forced to punt their next drive, but the Steelers would go three-and-out themselves, giving the Commanders good field position. Zane Gonzalez would hit a 41-yard field goal with 2:55 left in the third quarter, extending their lead to 27-21. When the Steelers got the ball back, Russell Wilson threw a deep ball on third-and-fourteen that was intercepted at the Washington 26, his first interception as a Steeler. It seemed to be unraveling, and the defense would need to come up big.

The first play of Washington’s drive, they did the opposite, allowing a 28-yard completion to McLaurin. This was followed by a six-yard run, and the Commanders were on the Steelers’ 40, almost in field goal range and close to making it a three score game. Cam Hayward had other ideas, sacking Daniels for an 11-yard loss on the last play of the third quarter. On third-and-fifteen, the Commanders ran an end-around, and trade-deadline acquisition Preston Smith dropped Washington receiver Dyami Brown for an 11-yard loss. In the span of two plays, Washington went from the Pittsburgh 40 to their own 38 and would punt.

The Steelers moved the ball effectively, dinking and dunking their way down the field—and hitting Pickens for a 24-yard gain, too. It looked like a certainty that they would score. On second-and-seven from the Commanders’ eight, Jaylen. Warren took a handoff to the left side and picked up the first down, but wanted to get into the end zone. While fighting for yardage, the ball came out, and Washington recovered. He had fumbled mere inches from a go-ahead touchdown. That was surely game over.

Washington would go three-and-out, barely moving the ball, and punted back to the Steelers, and Calvin Austin III returned it into Washington territory. With 5:59 left, they needed to score.

They moved the ball some, getting to the 32 with 2:27 left, but were staring at a third-and-nine. Zach Frazier, who just returned from injury this week, snapped the ball to Wilson. Wilson threw one of his patented “moon balls” into the Landover, Maryland sky, and it fell right into the breadbasket of the newly-acquired Mike Williams for a touchdown. It was his first target, catch, and touchdown in the black and gold, and it tied the game up at 27. Boswell would add the go-ahead extra point with 2:22 left. It was time for the defense to do its job.

When they say it is a game of inches, they are not lying. After picking up one first down, the Commanders had a fourth-and-nine at the 50. Daniels threw the ball to tight end Zach Ertz at the Steelers 41, right at the first-down marker, but Ertz stepped backwards slightly (on his own, thus negating forward progress), and was touched down before re-establishing position at the first-down marker. After video review, it was ruled a turnover on downs.

The Steelers ran the ball three times, making Washington use all three timeouts. With 1:02 left and a 4th-and-1, they brought the offense out to try and draw Washington offsides and get a game-clinching first down…and they did! The Steelers would win on a neutral zone infraction penalty!

The offense, once again, was good with Wilson at the helm. Since he took over as the starter, the team is averaging 30.3 points per game. This was also the first time in 48 games that a Steelers’ quarterback threw for three touchdowns. In his three starts, Wilson is 50/85 for 737 yards and six passing touchdowns and, in the fourth quarter, 11/14 for 216 yards and three touchdowns and a perfect passer rating. 

Of course, you cannot play quarterback in this league without an effective offensive line. Two rookie offensive linemen—second-round pick Zach Frazier, who missed the previous two games due to injury, and fourth-round pick Mason McCormick—ran the show yesterday, with the West Virginia product allowing zero pressures on 33 passing snaps, and McCormick only allowing two pressures in the same number of snaps. 

I also want to credit the coaching staff as a whole. This season, the Steelers have outscored opponents in the second half by eighty points (135-55). That is not something that can happen without a strong presence on the sideline and in the locker room. 

That game yesterday showed me that this team can win any game. They can win with offense and defense. Hell, they limited one of the best running quarterbacks in the league to just three rushes for five yards. This team is no longer shackled by a poor offense, no longer screwed when falling behind or giving up more than 17 points. The hill is no longer too steep to climb for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“You say the hill’s too steep to climb, chiding

You say you’d like to see me try climbing

You pick the place and I’ll choose the time

And I’ll climb the hill in my own way…”

~Fearless, Pink Floyd