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Immediate Impact: Mike Williams Leads Steelers to Comeback Win in Washington
Newly acquired wide receiver Mike Williams caught a game-winning TD as the Pittsburgh Steelers came back to beat the Washington Commanders.
LANDOVER, Md. — Mike Williams did not play a lot in his Pittsburgh Steelers debut, but he sure made them count.
Williams caught a 32-yard touchdown on the first target of his Steelers career to provide the final margin of victory in a 28-27 Steelers win over the Washington Commanders on Sunday.
Williams, who just came over from the New York Jets on Tuesday, did not start and played sparingly, but came through in the clutch when Russell Wilson unleashed one of his signature moon balls down the left sideline, and Williams made a sliding catch.
The comeback put an exclamation on a back-and-forth battle between two of the hottest teams in the NFL in the first half of the 2024 season.
The Steelers started out hot, scoring a touchdown on a picture-perfect second drive when Wilson hit George Pickens in the back of the end zone. Pickens made an incredible adjustment to the ball in the air to come down with it.
Mike Williams TD in his Steelers debut 😤
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/zYF45SxuQT
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) November 10, 2024
The Pittsburgh defense followed that up with another stop and the momentum was all tilted toward the Steelers.
That changed with a big special teams play. The Steelers tried a fake punt when the Commanders left gunner James Pierre uncovered, but Pierre dropped the ball, setting Washington up inside the Pittsburgh red zone. Austin Ekeler covered with a 1-yard score.
The Steelers got a big special teams play the other way, when Ben Skowronek recovered a muffed punt inside the Washington 15-yard line. Pat Freiermuth took a 3-yard pass from Wilson into the end zone to clean up that opportunity.
From there, the game tightened. Washington took the advantage late in the second quarter, with a 94-yard drive led by Daniels through the Pittsburgh defense, and aided by multiple Pittsburgh penalties. Ekeler again did the final damage with a 1-yard burst, sending Washington into the half up three.
The start of the third quarter went even worse, as Terry McLaurin broke a Minkah Fitzpatrick tackle and took off for a 54-yard scamper. Former Steelers running back Jeremy McNichols collected another short-yardage touchdown to put Washington up by 10.
The Steelers answered by finally getting Pickens loose. He caught a slant, broke a tackle, and made another man miss in a 34-yard run to set up the Steelers in the red zone. Najee Harris cashed in with a 1-yard touchdown to make it a one-score game.
The Commanders added a Zane Gonzalez field goal to force the Steelers to score a touchdown to win it, setting up Williams’ game-winning score.
After Pittsburgh took the lead, the defense got a stop, and Wilson drew rookie defensive lineman Johnny Newton offsides on fourth down to run out the clock,
The Steelers improved to 7-2 on the season, their best start since 2020. They remain alone in first place in the AFC North, and they’ll start divisional action next week when they host the Baltimore Ravens at Acrisure Stadium.
