Payton Wilson had the kind of play that can swing a game in a heartbeat, and it came at the exact right moment for Pittsburgh.
The former NC State All-American linebacker came up with a red zone interception in the Steelers’ 16-10 win over the Saints in Paris yesterday, a snap that shifted the game and helped Pittsburgh move to 5-2 on the season.
The sequence was tense. With 7:43 left in the third quarter, the Steelers were up 13-10, but New Orleans had put together a patient 14-play, 68-yard march and was close to either tying the game or taking the lead.
From the Steelers’ 10-yard line on second-and-7, Tyler Shough dropped back and tried to hit Chris Olave in the flat. Wilson read it, broke on the throw and pulled in an incredible fingertip interception at shin level.
Pittsburgh made the takeaway pay off. After a 14-play drive of its own, Chris Boswell drilled a 39-yard field goal to add three more points, pushing the Steelers ahead 16-10. That score held all the way to the final whistle.
Wilson’s stat line matched the impact of the play: six tackles, one pass breakup and one interception. His PFF grade came in at 89.8, the second-highest mark on the team and his best grade of the season.
Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy praised him afterward.
“It took points off the board, big play,” McCarthy said. “They were doing a very good job with the underneath completion game. Payton just keeps getting stronger and stronger.”
Through seven games, Wilson has become one of Pittsburgh’s most productive defenders. He leads the Steelers with 61 tackles, a total that also ties for eighth in the NFL. His six tackles for loss are tied for the second most on the team, and that number already matches a career high in just seven games.
The jump in production shows up in the grading, too. Wilson’s overall PFF mark is 72.6 this season, a big rise from 54.0 last year.
He’s also tracking toward some notable milestones. Wilson is on pace to finish with top-10 tackle production in the NFL, a feat only two other Wolfpack players have done: Stephen Tulloch, twice, and Germaine Pratt.
He’s also on pace to challenge the Steelers’ single-season tackles record, which belongs to James Farrior. Farrior had 141 tackles in 2003, and Wilson is currently on pace for 148.
In Other News...
Philip Rivers And NC State Suddenly Feel Like A Real Possibility
Philip Rivers has quickly emerged as one of the more intriguing names tied to NC States opening, and it is easy to see why the idea has caught on. He is coaching high school football at St. Michael in Alabama now, but his recent brief stint with the Indianapolis Colts last season appears to have opened the door to a different kind of future, one that could extend beyond the prep level. The fit around Raleigh is obvious enough, too, with his son Gunner already at NC State and a few more players from Rivers high school program headed to the Wolfpack.
The storyline has only grown more interesting since the coaching change in Raleigh. Rivers has not been responsive since Dave Doeren was fired, and he has also stepped away from his planned role as offensive coordinator in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic, a move that naturally adds to the speculation. For now, there is still plenty left unresolved, but the possibility that Rivers could eventually be in the mix for NC State is no longer just a throwaway idea. [Read more 🡒]
Why NC State Turned To Todd Goebbel In A Pivotal Moment
Todd Goebbel is now the man in charge on an interim basis after NC State moved on from Dave Doeren, a shift that puts a familiar face at the center of a pivotal moment for the program. His selection points to continuity at a time when the Wolfpack needed someone with institutional knowledge, and Goebbels path through the staff since 2019 gave the athletic department a coach who already understood the rhythm of the place.
He has worn multiple hats during his time in Raleigh, including special teams coordinator and running backs coach, which gave him broad contact across the roster and the staff. In a search that included other coaches with more prominent rsums, NC State clearly valued that steady familiarity and day-to-day experience, leaving the next step of the transition tied to how Goebbel handles the team in the stretch ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Philip Rivers Finally Addressed The NC State Coaching Buzz
Philip Rivers has spent enough time around the game to know how fast coaching chatter can take off, especially when an opening appears at a place with as much history as NC State. The former Wolfpack quarterback, now the head coach at Fairhope St. Michael, publicly weighed in after the firing of Dave Doeren, offering respect for Doeren while stopping short of saying anything that would feed the speculation.
Rivers is staying in his current lane for now, and the timing matters. He recently stepped down from his coaching role in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic, but he will remain with St. Michael through the playoffs, leaving the NC State conversation hanging with plenty of buzz and not much clarity. [Read more 🡒]