Steelers 26, Giants 18
Q. How important was it to get a bunch of people involved in the first drive?
RUSSELL WILSON: Yeah, I mean, I think the versatility of our guys, how they get open, how they work, that showed up a lot tonight.
I thought the running backs did a really good job of running the ball. The offensive line did a great job. That's a really good defensive line that they have.
It was a full team effort. That was fun.
Q. What can you say about guys like Calvin and Van?
RUSSELL WILSON: I'm not surprised. That's what I would say. They do it in practice every day. Their work ethic, they've been doing it since the summertime, off-season, the springtime. All the work that we were able to do in the off-season together in San Diego, all that.
I know who they are. They're competitors, play-makers. Van's catch down the sideline was amazing. Giving him a chance down there. Calvin made some great plays, the touchdown. GP, he really had a great, great night. He had two touchdowns. Unfortunately got called back. He was special tonight, too.
I think it's the work ethic, the work ethic of those guys. They're putting all the work in every day. It's not a surprise when it shows up on the field. I think that's the key part.
Q. Have you ever had a wide receiver score a touchdown by getting the same foot down twice?
RUSSELL WILSON: Yeah, I mean, I almost feel like it's an interesting rule. It's like obviously we thought maybe he dragged his toe, maybe got it down. When you get the same foot down twice, clear one, then another one, number two, it's almost like you get a knee down, it counts as a touchdown. Getting two rights maybe should count, but I don't know (smiling).
George had a great game. I know obviously he wants those two touchdowns. We all want those. Really would have broken out the game early on for us. He made two great catches. He did a great job on the first one running away. Stepped up and slid, he made a great play. The next one was really spectacular by him. We were all celebrating thinking that was going to be a touchdown.
I think the key part is he stayed locked in and everybody else kept believing. Guys made great plays. The line did a tremendous job for me to be able to hit Calvin. They brought that pressure on that play. We blocked it up, did a great job of that. Calvin did a tremendous job of getting open.
I think we got great play-makers. That's a good thing.
Q. The ball to Van was similar to George last week. Calvin said it's something you work extra on after practice. What kind of work does it take to get that kind of precision?
RUSSELL WILSON: I think ball placement there. The biggest thing is those guys, you have confidence in Van, you have confidence in Calvin, you have confidence in George, in Scottie. These guys are really putting the work in every day.
I think the extra work before practice, the extra work after practice. We got tremendous football players. We believe in the guys we got. We got some special guys. Their work ethic is really remarkable.
It makes it fun, to be honest with you, to play quarterback here, be around tremendous guys that love the game of football. Obviously George is a tremendous football player, who he is, what he brings to the table. Calvin, you guys got to see who he is, what he means to this football team, the star that he is going to be and already is. It's in him. It's in him. The punt return that he had, the touchdown. These are things that are special plays.
Van Jefferson, he's a guy that I remember watching him back in his college days, watching his college highlights and everything else. Obviously he went to the Rams. I had to watch him make plays over there.
To have him on our team, his family means the world to me, too. Just watching his work ethic every day. It just makes the game fun when you get to be around great guys. The huddle is great. Guys are believers. We're working our tails off every day.
The only thing that you can control is your work ethic. You really get to control that part of it. Then it shows up in the game. When you're able to make plays like that, it's not a surprise that hard work pays off.
Q. You mentioned the tough break on the pass to George in the end zone. Where would you like improve to get touchdowns instead of field goals?
RUSSELL WILSON: The first one he had got called back unfortunately. That's just football sometimes. The play happens like that. He did a great job. We schemed it up, it was right there, touchdown there. Then he had another one where we wanted that play called. He did a great job.
It's a game of inches. I mean, he just did a tremendous job. He can't really go back and, We did this wrong. Those are perfectly executed plays, to be honest with you.
There will be more. There will be more of 'em. We just got to keep our head up and keep going.
Q. Do you feel like you got off to a better start? How much was the run game important?
RUSSELL WILSON: I think it was a holistic approach. Our defense, we fed off of those guys. They made a couple big stops for us. Offensively we got a great start. Wanted to score a touchdown on the first drive. I seen Darnell make the great catch on the corner route that he ran. He almost scored on that one. He almost stayed inbounds.
I'm really proud of our running backs, how hard they ran. It's good to see Naj doing his thing. He's had several weeks in a row that he's been special running the football. That's a testament to our offensive line and the tight ends, what they're doing, Arthur scheming it up for him.
I think Jaylen is going to continue to get hot as we go. He's a hard runner. Those guys can do some really good things.
We have great confidence. We haven't done everything yet. We're obviously sitting here at 6-2, which is a great thing, but it doesn't mean anything. When we look back at it all, we got to be making sure we're staying focused on the next task. That's to really take care of our bodies, our minds, enjoy this with your families and all that stuff, this bye week, because we got a surge ahead of us that we got to go get. There's a lot of great games ahead of us. We're not going to shy away from 'em. We got to make sure that we're ready to go.
We've been going since training camp. It's important guys get their minds reset, figure out what we could do better. The game could have broken out tonight with the two touchdowns that George had. It's football, and sometimes you have to be patient. Sometimes it happens later in the game when we were able to do that. It's just a testament to us sticking together.
Q. What was the key to not getting frustrated when the calls and penalties forced you to settle for field goals in the first half? Did you have a feeling you were about to break the game open?
RUSSELL WILSON: Yeah, those are real touchdowns that we had. It's well executed, great plays. Sometimes in a physical-natured game, stuff gets called. It is what it is. You got to be able to move on to the next play. I kept reminding guys, we still have a whole half to go.
I think Calvin's punt return was really remarkable. It's cool seeing him back there making those plays. He can do anything. Obviously his touchdown, that really opened up the game.
We just believe in each other. We believe in the defense. We believe in the offense. We believe in special teams. We just believe in our process. Every win counts. Every win matters, no matter how we do it.
I think the best part about it was we overcame the obstacles. I think that's the silver lining in it all tonight. We scored two touchdowns that were beautiful by George and we stale overcame it all. That game would have been really broken out if we had those two.
I think we just got to keep finding those moments that really break out those games.
Q. From your first start last week to this one, where did you feel more comfortable in the flow of the game?
RUSSELL WILSON: I felt more fluid. I haven't really missed many games in my lifetime. You miss five, six games, Okay, got to get your rhythm.
Last game, the first game, I felt like we had a great rhythm the first drive. The second drive we had some things there. Third and fourth drives... That's just ball sometimes. It's not easy every possession, especially when you are going against good teams.
You just respond. I think the most important thing is just response. A relentless belief in one another, relentless faith in understanding that this game is a process, each drive tells a story, each games tell as different story.
You got to be able to adjust and move and respond. I think that's the part about these kind of games. As you go on in the season, as we get down the road, each game is going to continue to be a heavyweight fight. The thing with heavyweight fights is you got to respond.
I think sometimes you're going to get hit in the mouth, sometimes you are going to get back up and respond. I think that's going to be really key as we move forward, head up, chin up, keep going, keep making plays, believing in the next play, the next play is going to be the best play. Understand you're not getting too high, too low, staying neutral and trusting it all.
I think that for me, in this game in particular, was really key. We all stayed in control of what we're seeing, what we're doing, how we're going after it. I thought Arthur called a great game. I wish we had those two touchdowns back. This would have really broken it out.
We have great confidence in our team, what we're doing.
Q. You have a lot of younger guys on the offense. What kind of stuff are you saying to them as a veteran when frustrating moments like that happen early in the game?
RUSSELL WILSON: I think the thing is that these are all great just learning experiences, man. The can't waver. I always use the boxing analogy. When you're in a heavyweight fight, you got to be able to respond, keep your chin up, keep going. It takes one, two, three hits sometimes. I think that's the thing about us, is that we got great belief. We have unwavering faith in one another.
I think our practice habits have been really exceptional. We got to continue to grow on that every day. We've done a really good job of that. We got to press in. There's more touchdowns out there, more plays, more things. We'll do that.
I think the best thing about it is learning from what we've done really well so far, learning what we can get better at, but also understanding that it's a process. You want to be on the rise as you go. I think we're on that journey right now. We're on that train of just continuing to grow. I think that's an exciting thing for this football team, what we're doing, how we're doing it.
I'm really proud of just Ryan stepping in and playing center over the past couple weeks. That's a big deal to be able to have guys be able to step in, be as confident as he's been, to be the leader, a great sounding voice for the O-line. Just proud of the guys being connected as one.
When you got guys like that that are tough, got grit to them, knowledge of the game, work at it every day, love it, love each other, anything is possible.
Q. Take us to the deep ball to George.
RUSSELL WILSON: It was a great route by him, honestly. Great protection. He made a heck of a route. Almost toe tapped, stayed in, scored there. He's a special player, George. Man, we got all the belief in the world in him, what he can do.
He had a great night tonight. Obviously I wish he had those two touchdowns. Those were really special plays by him. But we'll catch up those and get those back.
Thank you, guys. Appreciate it.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports