The Pittsburgh Steelers turn the knife after delivering a fatal blow to the Denver Broncos on Sunday. With Russell Wilson watching from the sidelines, Steelers quarterback Justin Fields led his team to a 13-6 victory over Sean Payton, Bo Nix and the Broncos.

After Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin reportedly presented a “small” game ball to Wilson and two other former Broncos players, Fields stood on stage and sent Payton and his team a message on Russ’ behalf, in no uncertain terms.

“I think we all know Russ was dirty last year, so I know he couldn’t play in this game today, but it was great to get that win for him. He got a petty game ball,” Fields said via Sports Illustrated.

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The Broncos let Wilson go earlier this year, creating an $85 million dead-money charge against the salary cap that crippled Payton’s ability to rebuild the roster. Wilson took a one-year deal with the Steelers for essentially the veteran’s minimum; the Broncos are paying him tens of millions of dollars to play elsewhere.

Payton immediately set his sights on the NFL draft, identifying Nix as his ideal future quarterback and direct replacement for Wilson. The Broncos drafted Nix at No. 12 overall and, after beating out Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson in an open competition this summer, named him the team’s starting quarterback on Day 1, becoming the first rookie to start the season opener since John Elway in 1983.

Meanwhile, Wilson was beating Fields in Pittsburgh’s QB competition, but a lingering calf injury has sidelined him since the start of the season. The Broncos-Steelers “revenge” tropes were promptly blown out of the water when Wilson was not selected to start on Sunday.

Fields delivered a pedestrian 117 yards and a touchdown in Denver, which was enough to hold off the Broncos thanks to Payton’s sputtering offense. Denver managed just six points as Nix was intercepted twice — including a brutal red-zone interception that was Payton seemingly blamed Courtland Sutton.

The Steelers beat the Broncos, and Payton has now failed to produce results in any of the “revenge” games he’s played in since becoming head coach. He’s had two more such games this year, so if the best predictor of the future is the past, things aren’t looking good.

The Steelers are now 2-0 and can enjoy the “minor” pitfalls of a 13-6 win over a team with $80 million in dead money poaching a rookie quarterback. For Payton and his coaching staff, it’s back to the drawing board with a Week 3 road trip to Tampa Bay next on the agenda once the dust settles after Sunday’s shameful display.

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