All’s well that ends well and the Pittsburgh Steelers got to a happy place thanks to Calvin Austin's stellar performance. And they didn’t need J.J. Watt trying to take care of little brother. But quarterback Russell Wilson gave an interesting take on George Pickens’ overturned touchdown.
Austin raced 73 yards for a punt-return touchdown and later grabbed another score as the Steelers beat the Giants 26-18 on Monday night. One score the Steelers didn’t get came when George Pickens secured a grab in the end zone in the third quarter. Replay officials overturned the touchdown call. Wilson didn’t wholeheartedly agree with the decision, according to espn.com.
“It's an interesting rule,” Wilson said. “It's like, obviously, we thought maybe he had dragged his toe, maybe he got it down.”
Steelers QB Russell Wilson thinks George Pickens earned a score
Pickens also had a touchdown called back earlier in the game because of a penalty. But the second one had a different spin. Pickens caught the ball and landed on his right foot. His foot bounced back in the air and landed again. But his left foot didn’t touch until he landed out of bounds. That led to a ruling of an incomplete pass.
“We get the same foot down twice, and it's clear one and then another one,” Wilson said. “No. 2, it's almost like you get a knee down, and it counts as a touchdown. And getting two rights [feet], maybe it should count. But I don't know.
“George had a great game. I know obviously he wants those two touchdowns. We all want those — it really would've broken out the game early on for us.”
Regardless of Wilson’s comment, Pickens didn’t have a great game. He caught four balls for 74 yards. It would have been a great game if both touchdowns had counted as he would have been closer to 100 yards, plus the two scores. But he didn’t get credit for either touchdown.
Wilson moves to 2-0 as Steelers starter
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The veteran quarterback has seized the moment, looking good in both games and making the Steelers look like a legitimate playoff force.
Against the Giants, he totaled 278 yards passing and a touchdown. That set a franchise record for most passing yards by a Steeler in his first two games with the organization (542). It surpassed Earl Morrall's 504 yards in 1957, per ESPN Research. Weird stat, but still.
Wilson said he felt more fluid in his second start of the season, which came after Justin Fields led the Steelers through the first part of the season.
“I haven't really missed any games in my lifetime, and you miss five, six games, and you're just, ‘OK, all right, you got to get your rhythm.’ ”Wilson said. “Sometimes it's not easy every possession, especially when you're going against good teams. And so you just respond. I think the most important thing is just response.”
