Payton Wilson had run the play in practice so many times that, when the Saints lined up for it in the red zone in Paris on Sunday, he did not wait to see the ball thrown. The Steelers linebacker jumped in front of Chris Olave’s out route, dove for Tyler Shough’s pass and came up with the only turnover of Pittsburgh’s 16-10 win at Stade de France.
The interception came on the opening drive of the second half, with New Orleans down 13-10 and close enough to tie the game or take its first lead. Instead the Steelers kept their three-point cushion, and Chris Boswell later stretched it to the final margin with a field goal. Pittsburgh is 5-2; the Saints are 2-5.
Twenty reps and a gamble
Asked about the play after the game, Wilson pointed first to the practice field. “I’ve repped that play, no lie, more than 20 times now,” he said, crediting assistant coaches Jason Simmons, Patrick Graham and Scott McCurley for drilling the coverage. He explained that offenses across the league like to attack the space away from a three-receiver side or a two-by-two set, and that recognizing the formation let him take a chance on the route. “So just gambling a little bit and undercutting it,” he said.
Wilson added that covering the same concept against Aaron Rodgers through training camp and in weekly practice had prepared him for the moment, and that he felt free to guess because he trusted Patrick Queen and Jaquan Brisker to clean up behind him if he guessed wrong.
Aaron Rodgers & Payton Wilson spoke to the media following our win over the Saints. @Acrisure pic.twitter.com/ThjjJqfKsr
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) October 25, 2026
Mike McCarthy said afterward that the pick took points off the board, and the Steelers coach described Wilson as a player who keeps getting stronger as the defense grows more comfortable with its weekly adjustments.
A linebacker’s season
Wilson finished with six tackles in Paris, part of a defense that held New Orleans to 18 rushing yards on 17 carries. Shough completed 30 of 38 passes for 278 yards and a touchdown, and the Saints converted half of their 12 third downs, but they reached the end zone only once.
He arrived in France as one of the busiest tacklers in the league: through the first six games he had 55 tackles, 29 of them solo, eighth in the NFL. His full season line and career numbers are on his WhyNFL player page.
Payton Wilson anticipates the pass perfectly and picks off Shough in the red zone
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/7QIPlOfibh— NFL (@NFL) October 25, 2026
The win also carried Rodgers past Peyton Manning on the career touchdown list, with his 540th touchdown pass. The full story of the game is in our Steelers-Saints recap and the Game Center.
What comes next
The Steelers fly home to host the Cleveland Browns in an AFC North game on Sunday, November 1, at 1 p.m. EST.
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