Mike Williams trade already haunting NY Jets in AFC playoff picture

Mike Williams is already haunting his former team.

Mike Williams
Mike Williams | Kevin Sabitus/GettyImages

NY Jets fans have been watching the 1 o'clock window of NFL games in Week 10, desperately holding out hope for their team's postseason hopes. Unfortunately, a former player did his best to break their hearts in his first game as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Jets sent wide receiver Mike Williams to the Steelers in exchange for a fifth-round pick just before the trade deadline earlier this month. Williams has wasted little time making an impact with his new team.

The former Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver picked a good time for his first Steelers catch, hauling in a 32-yard touchdown from Russell Wilson to give his team a 28-27 lead late in the fourth quarter.

The Steelers would go on to hold on and defeat a talented Commanders team, improving to 7-2 and solidifying their place in the AFC playoff picture. That's bad news for a Jets team clinging to their postseason lives.

Mike Williams late-game heroics hurts NY Jets in AFC playoff standings

Williams only caught one pass in his Steelers debut, but that catch just so happened to be the game-winning touchdown. Steelers fans are celebrating while Jets fans watched in horror as their team's trade-deadline swap has already proved to be costly.

The Steelers now sit atop the AFC North with a 7-2 record, pushing the Baltimore Ravens to second place at 7-3. This solidifies the Steelers and Ravens as playoff teams, realistically giving the Jets two wild card seeds to fight for.

The Jets did receive a bit of good fortune earlier in the day, courtesy of Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos losses. The Broncos' loss on a last-second blocked field goal means a Jets win today will leave them one game back of the playoffs.

Still, the Jets would have preferred the clean sweep with a Steelers loss as well. Their former wide receiver made sure that didn't happen.

More NY Jets news and analysis:

Schedule