PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – He had a feeling of what it could be going into the game, but Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith left Sunday night with a better idea of Russell Wilson and his offense. And is excited about what he sees.
Smith pointed to a couple of areas that really impressed him. The first was early in the game. Smith said no matter how many reps you've had in NFL play, when you haven't played in a while, it's tough. You want to come out of the gates smoking. They tried to get him in a rhythm. They talked about it before the game. But it's not easy and you could feel and hear the anxiety in Acrisure Stadium after three straight punts.
"He kept a good, even demeanor," Smith said. "That's not an easy stage. There you are Sunday Night Football. We were coming off a big win, 30 points with Justin. You could feel it. Better or worse, you could hear some of the crowd and some of the things that are being said. He got up off the mat, made a big play and got going."
The big play was 2nd and 17 after a holding penalty at the Steelers 24-yard line early in the second quarter, Wilson hits George Pickens on a go-ball for 44 yards in a drive that would end up cutting the lead to a point and the start of the Steelers scoring on six of the next seven series.
"That's a tough spot to be in, you find out about a lot of people," Smith said. "He stayed neutral. There was no panic in him. He is an upbeat person. You really get to see who somebody is by their actions."
The 35-year-old would make a couple other throws that impressed, even one that led to a pass interference penalty. Smith credited his baseball background for helping on what he thought was the best pass of the night. Steelers had called a keeper and the defensive end ran free, Wilson made a quick move and made a three-quarters throw to Pat Freiermuth. It wasn't just that he completed the pass, but caught the tight end in stride.
It was something that looked like a shortstop during a double play. It's part of what makes Smith 'excited' to continue to work with Wilson.
The Steelers offensive coordinator wanted to be clear that he doesn't believe they've figured it all out. They were late to the line of scrimmage a couple of times. You could argue unless every drive ended in a touchdown, there is something that went wrong.
But a good first start, for a team that hadn't that many offensive points in a win since October 11, 2020 beating the Eagles when Chase Claypool had a four-touchdown game.
"I give a lot of credit to him because you find out about people," Smith said. "That was a big moment for him."
