Mike Williams was barely used in his Steelers debut, and he only made 1 play. It won the game

LANDOVER, Md. — That ballyhooed, long-awaited trade acquisition to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ wide receivers corps? He barely played during his debut with the team.

But he made the play that ultimately provided the Steelers their victory.

Mike Williams had appeared in only eight offensive snaps and had not been targeted with a pass when with 2 ½ minutes left in the fourth quarter the Steelers called a timeout. They trailed by six points and faced a third-and-9 from the Commanders’ 32-yard line.

“I was told (by quarterback Russell Wilson) to run this (particular) route,” Williams said after the Steelers’ 28-27 win. “(Calvin Austin III) went out (with an undisclosed injury), and he had been running that route all week and he actually ran it earlier in the game.

“It was designed for him, but he was out. So I went in there and made the play.”

Wilson lobbed a pass more than 40 yards in the air down the left side that landed in Williams’ waiting hands just as he crossed the goal line for a score that provided the final points in a game that had the Steelers come back from a 10-point deficit.

FIRST TD AS A STEELER!!!!!!!!

???? Stream on NFL+: https://t.co/COxKRnr6Mc pic.twitter.com/qaxvtHNvcM

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) November 10, 2024

“You’ve got to love clutch moments when you’ve got guys who can make plays and do things for you,” Wilson said.

To that point, Williams had a very quiet first game with the Steelers, who acquired him Tuesday from the New York Jets in exchange for a fifth-round pick.

Williams barely saw the field over the Steelers’ first 11-plus possessions , playing a depth role behind George Pickens, Austin, Van Jefferson — and even Ben Skowronek, who was activated off injured reserve this week but primarily is employed to serve as a “gunner” on the punt teams.

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Williams, though, said he kept engaged in the game and with teammates on the sideline, riding an exercise bike to stay ready.

“I told him situationally to just stay in it,” Pickens said. “Because a guy with his size, (for example) fourth down, 2 minutes. … When it’s running down, we look for guys like that. So I told him to stay in it.”

Williams might not even have been in the game if not for Austin’s ailment. But after the timeout in advance of the critical late third-down play, Wilson told Williams where to line up and what route to run.

How much had he practiced the play over his four days as part of the Steelers?

“None,” Williams said, smiling. “I didn’t run it one time.”

It was a play and route concept that Austin had repped and was supposed to run.

“I wasn’t aligned for me to be over there,” Williams said, “and (Wilson) told me to go over there, so kind of had an idea that the ball was gonna be thrown outside. So I ran the route and checked the air and caught the ball.”

All week after joining the Steelers, Mike Williams never ran the route that was his winning TD catch Sunday

He was in because Calvin Austin was injured, so Russell Wilson literally told Williams where to line up what route to run that he did pic.twitter.com/wAmBCdAx8M

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) November 10, 2024

Williams’ first catch with the Steelers was a huge one, and it was only his 13th overall in 10 games he has played this season.

A college All-American who won a national title at Clemson, Williams was the No. 7 overall pick of the draft in 2017 draft and became a two-time 1,000-yard receiver in the NFL.

But Williams suffered a torn ACL early last season and was not productive while playing for the Jets this season on a one-year deal. It is reasonable to wonder if Williams’ best days are far behind him.

Whether that’s true, Williams’ winning touchdown Sunday already is more than enough to justify the compensation in the trade that got him. It also proved Williams can still make a big play.

“He’s still,” Pickens said, “that great receiver from Clemson.”