5 Steelers surprises in Sunday’s win against the Commanders
Our SCU staff and contributors pick the “surprises” from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ latest matchup each week. Check out more below to see which plays and situations surprised us the most!
The Pittsburgh Steelers picked up their seventh win of the 2024 season with a 28-27 victory over the Washington Commanders on Sunday. The victory also keeps the Steelers in the lead in the AFC North over the Baltimore Ravens.
Here are some surprises from that game.
Final Drive
There were more than enough surprises in this game, but the final drive may be the icing on the cake.
In his third start of the season, Steelers QB Russell Wilson led a game-winning drive after another 14-play, 86-yard drive was thwarted when RB Jaylen Warren fumbled after forward progress did not whistle a play dead on the Commanders one-yard line.
Down 27-21, the Steelers would get the ball back with 5:46 remaining in the game and starting from the Washington 46. Wilson would lead a six-play, 51-yard drive that was capped off by new acquisition, WR Mike Williams. Williams, previously from the Jets, joined the Steelers earlier in the week and entered the game following an injury to WR Calvin Austin.
Wilson communicated with the veteran Williams, and found him on a deep 32-yard touchdown connection for the deciding score.
Final Play
The Williams play didn’t end the game, as Washington had an opportunity to get the ball back north of the two minute warning.
Operating with all three of their timeouts, the Commanders started from their 35-yard line but would face a crucial 4th-and-9 from the 50. Rookie QB Jayden Daniels stepped back to pass and found TE Zach Ertz, who would fall short of the line of gain, giving the Steelers the ball back with 1:18 left.
Pittsburgh ran the ball three consecutive times to force Washington into burning their timeouts, but also came up one yard short on third down, setting up a 4th-and-1 situation where Mike Tomlin sent his offense back on the field.
The next thing that happened seemed impossible, as Russell Wilson ran a hard count and forced Commanders rookie DT Johnny Newton to jump in the neutral zone: a five-yard penalty and automatic first down that would seal the game for the Steelers as their opponent could no longer stop the clock.
Fake Punt
Talk about shocking: how about a fake punt on the Steelers third possession of the game?
With only about half of the first quarter elapsed, and up 7-0, Pittsburgh attempted the unthinkable from the Washington 29-yard line. Mile Killebrew took a direct snap and threw a pass towards the sidelines to James Pierre – who was wide open but dropped the ball!
The play call was incredibly aggressive given the timing and scenario, but the crazier part is that it should’ve worked as the ball hit Pierre straight in the chest before falling to the ground.
Instead, the Steelers gave up great field position that allowed the Commanders to score their first touchdown and tie the game at 7-7. However, another special teams play would save Pittsburgh, as Pierre and Ben Skowronek were able to scramble for a muffed Washington punt at the beginning of the second quarter. (That play would lead to a Steelers touchdown and 14-7 edge.)
Russell Wilson
Despite only throwing for 195 yards in the game, Russell Wilson attacked the Commanders defense for three passing touchdowns – including the aforementioned game winner to Mike Williams.
The significance of throwing three touchdown passes cannot be understated, as the Steelers previous quarterbacks never met this metric during the last several regular seasons.
Mitchell Trubisky never threw for multiple touchdown passes in 12 games played for Pittsburgh. Mason Rudolph never threw for three in 21 appearances with the Steelers and previous starter Kenny Pickett only had a single game (Week 3, 2023, Las Vegas Raiders) in which he threw more than a single touchdown pass (2) in 25 games.
Furthermore, it would be the first time a Steelers quarterback would throw for three or more TDs in a game since 2021 when Ben Roethlisberger had three touchdowns in a 36-28 loss against the Minnesota Vikings.
This would also mark the first time that Wilson has thrown for three touchdowns in his last ten starts, spanning back to a 114-yard performance in a 24-9 win over the Kansas City Chiefs back in October of 2023 when he was a member of the Denver Broncos.
No Boswell field goals
After attempting 24 field goals in the previous eight games of the season, including eleven over the previous three games, Chris Boswell did not attempt a single field goal against the Commanders.
It was the first time Boswell didn’t have an attempt since December 16, 2023 in a Week 14 game against the Indianapolis Colts.
This marks only the fifth time in Boswell’s last 89 games where he was active and did not attempt a field goal, dating all the way back to the 2018 season.
