PITTSBURGH — A dominant defense. An offense heavily reliant on a running game. A steady start to a season brimming with promise tinged by uncertainty at quarterback.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have been here before. Even if Mike Tomlin and Russell Wilson haven’t.
Fifty years ago, the original “Steel Curtain” defense led by Joe Greene was in its prime. Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier provided a one-two punch in the backfield. Rookie wide receivers Lynn Swann and John Stallworth were the downfield threats the passing game so desperately lacked.
Yet something was off. Coach Chuck Noll could feel it even as Pittsburgh went 4-1-1 over the opening six weeks. Joe Gilliam, who started in Week 1 after Terry Bradshaw was injured late in the preseason, threw four touchdowns against eight interceptions across those first half-dozen games, leading Noll to turn back to Bradshaw and even take a glimpse at third-stringer Terry Hanratty.
The constant jockeying at the game’s most important position could have divided the team. In some ways, it did. Greene grew so frustrated late in the season following a loss to the Houston Oilers that he cleaned out his locker in a huff only to have wide receivers coach Lionel Taylor talk him out of quitting.
Bradshaw eventually settled in and the season ended with the Steelers winning the franchise’s first Super Bowl.
Looking back, Swann doesn’t linger on the bumpy road Pittsburgh took to the top, only the destination. Asked during a 50th-anniversary celebration of the 1974 team on Sunday night just hours before Wilson guided the Steelers to a surprisingly easy 37-15 win over the New York Jets that pushed Pittsburgh to 5-2 what he remembers about the turbulent season five decades ago, the Hall of Famer just smiled.
“Chuck was going to do what Chuck was going to do,” Swann said. “As players, we knew we just had to do our jobs for whoever the quarterback was. I caught my first career touchdown pass from Joe. I was with Joe just like I was fine with Terry or (Hanratty).”
Standing inside the Acrisure Stadium locker room just after Sunday night turned to early Monday morning, inside linebacker Patrick Queen echoed a similar thought when talking about Wilson and backup-turned-starter-turned backup Justin Fields.
“We have got a lot of faith in both of those guys,” Queen said. “Justin did a great job and now Russ has come in and done a great job. We know whoever we have back there, they’re going to give us a chance to win.”
Maybe, but Wilson’s performance in his first regular-season game in 10 months showed a glimpse of what Tomlin and first-year offensive coordinator Arthur Smith believe the Steelers can be.
Wilson completed 16 of 29 passes for 264 yards, throwing for two scores and running for another. Wide receiver George Pickens finished with five receptions for 111 yards and his first touchdown of the season. Running back Najee Harris topped 100 yards for a second straight week and the Steelers went over 30 points in consecutive games for the first time since 2020.
Suddenly, all the external angst about Wilson’s return from a calf injury disrupting whatever the Steelers believed they were building with Fields disappeared.
Funny how winning convincingly does that.
“We’re having fun playing ball,” Wilson said. “We’re having fun going to practice. We’re having fun being around one another and Coach Tomlin believes in all of us.”
His 35-year-old quarterback perhaps most of all.