Russell Wilson helped guide the Pittsburgh Steelers to 26-18 win over the New York Giants on Monday night.
The quarterback, who was named as a starter two weeks ago, is now 2-0 when he has played this season.
Wilson threw for 278 yards and a touchdown, completing 20 of 28 passes on the night.
His efforts set a franchise record for most passing yards by a Steeler in their first two games with the team, totalling 542 yards.
Speaking after the game, he said: “I felt more fluid.
“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.’
“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.”
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The Steelers’ offense moved the ball efficiently on its first three drives, though each ended with a field goal.
Wilson’s two potential touchdown passes to George Pickens were nullified by penalties, and another drive ended despite back-to-back gains of over 20 yards.
Reflecting on the plays that were called back, Wilson expressed disappointment, especially with the second call, where Pickens got his right foot down twice but failed to get his left foot down afterwards, leading to an incomplete ruling.
Despite the missed opportunities, Wilson later connected with wide receiver Calvin Austin III for a 29-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
As the Steelers head into their Week 9 bye with a strong 6-2 record, Wilson spoke on the importance of staying focused.
He added: “We’ve got great confidence.
“We haven’t done anything yet. We’re obviously sitting here at 6-2, which is a great thing, but it doesn’t mean anything.
“It doesn’t mean anything. When we look back at it all, we got to be making sure that we’re staying focused on the next task, and that’s to really take care of our bodies, take care of our minds, enjoy this with your families and all that stuff this bye week.
“Because we’ve got a surge ahead of us that we got to go get, and there’s a lot of great games ahead of us and we’re not going to shy away from them.”
