Russell Wilson turned back the clock as the Pittsburgh Steelers won a 44-38 shootout over divisional rival Cincinnati on Sunday.
Wilson was poised throughout the tilt, dicing up a limp Bengals defense to the tune of 414 yards on 29-of-38 passing with three touchdowns and one interception for a 126.4 passer rating.
“It was fun. We just had a great time,” Wilson said, via The Associated Press. “We knew it was a matchup. We knew it was going to be a heavyweight fight.”
It was Wilson’s best game in at least the past handful of years and easily his best outing since he left Seattle, showing that the 36-year-old can still guide a potent offense. The 414 pass yards were the second-most in a game in his career (452 in Week 8, 2017 with Seattle vs. Houston).
It marked Wilson’s third career game with 400-plus pass yards, his first on the road. Despite an early pick-six on a play in which refs deemed George Pickens slipped, Wilson still gobbled up 257 pass yards through two quarters, his most in a first half in his career.
“I thought our group smiled in the face of it, particularly (Wilson),” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “It’s the first time for him going through AFC North football, and I thought he acclimated himself to it well today. He put himself squarely in the history of this series with that performance today.”
With the defense uncharacteristically getting toasted at times and negative plays in the form of a couple of Pickens personal foul penalties -- which prompted Tomlin to say the young receiver needs to “grow up” -- Wilson shined.
The 44 points were the most in a game by Pittsburgh since Week 10, 2018 versus Carolina (52 points) and the most in a road game since Week 13, 2000 at Cincinnati (48). The Steelers' 520 total yards were the team's most in a game since Week 12, 2018 at Denver (527).
Bouncing back from last week’s loss in snowy Cleveland, Wilson showed the whole arsenal. He dropped moonballs, fit a perfect 23-yard seam-shot TD to Calvin Austin III, found targets on scramble drills, and when the Bengals dropped back, he was comfortable repeatedly dumping it off to his backs for chunk gains.
Wilson completed eight of nine passes over 10 air yards for 205 yards and two touchdowns (+34.8% CPOE, his third-highest mark in a game over the last seven seasons).
"We wanted to come out and attack, because we knew what they would give us," said Tomlin. "That's what I mean about the depths of these waters in these divisional relationships. It is not checkers -- it's chess."
The Steelers all but called checkmate on the Bengals season, dropping them to 4-8. Moving to 9-3, Pittsburgh has a 1.5-game lead in the AFC North. If Wilson continues to play this well, Pittsburgh will have a shot to move up from the No. 3 seed in the coming weeks.