Quarterback Russell Wilson didn’t seem to have many fans entering his debut with the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 7. But he always has support from home.
After Wilson led the Steelers to a 37-15 victory against the New York Jets, his wife, Ciara, voiced her support of Wilson publicly on social media. Ciara posted two photos of her and the couple’s children dressed in Steelers attire for the game.
Ciara posted a third photo of Wilson high-fiving Steelers fans after the win as well.
As a caption, Ciara wrote, “Daddy’s No. 1 fans. Family & Football.”
Wilson’s 264 passing yards in Pittsburgh’s 22-point victory was the most ever for a quarterback making his debut with the Steelers. Wilson threw for that yardage while completing 16 of 29 attempts for an average of 9.1 yards per pass.
He also had 2 passing touchdowns and a rushing score.
Russell Wilson Opens Steelers Passing Game
Pundits and many Steelers fans were concerned that losing the running ability of Justin Fields was going to stall Pittsburgh’s offense. Wilson replaced Fields in the starting lineup versus the Jets.
While Wilson wasn’t able to take advantage of some running lanes that Fields probably would have, Wilson did more through the air. He had seven completions of at least 15 yards versus the Jets.
Steelers top wide receiver George Pickens had his most impactful performance of the season, as he hauled in 5 catches for 111 yards and a touchdown. Pickens also drew a 29-yard pass interference penalty.
With the emergence of the deep threat, running lanes also opened up for Najee Harris. He ran for 100-plus rushing yards for the second consecutive week. The only other time in the NFL when Harris gained 100 yards on the ground in back-to-back games was over the final two regular season contests last season.
Finally, the 37 points the Steelers scored were their most in a game since Week 11 of the 2021 season. At that time, Ben Roethlisberger was Pittsburgh’s quarterback.
Wilson Addresses Steelers Fans Booing
October 20 was a great night for Wilson. But it didn’t begin that way. He only completed 2 of his first 8 attempts, and the Steelers fell behind 15-6 in the first half.
The Pittsburgh home crowd at Acrisure Stadium grew quite restless during that stretch. Some fans booed when the Steelers had to punt, and there were rumblings of Fields chants.
During his postgame press conference, Wilson addressed how he was able to overcome that negative energy.
“I really believe in being neutral,” Wilson told reporters. “Not being too high, not being too low. My old mental coach who passed away a couple years ago used to always say ‘Stay the course.’
“Coming into this game, we had a couple of things early we could’ve had. I felt like it was playoff baseball. I said out there, in the sense of, I started off 0-for-2. But it felt like I was going to get hot. I kept telling coach, ‘Hey, I’m going to get hot here.’ Sure enough, we did.”
Steelers undrafted rookie cornerback Beanie Bishop Jr. sent the home crowd into a frenzy when he intercepted Aaron Rodgers just before halftime. Wilson turned the opportunity into a touchdown to bring the Steelers within 2 points at halftime.
There was then no booing from Steelers fans in the second half, as the team outscored the Jets 24-0 after halftime.
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