The Pittsburgh Steelers’ passing game found success with Russell Wilson at quarterback on Sunday. He set a franchise record for the most passing yards in a Steelers debut, in fact. A lot of his success came from his deep ball, which people are calling a “moon ball”. Yet Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is not sure how distinctive or special Wilson’s signature pass is.
“I don’t know that it is” particularly unique, Tomlin said of Russell Wilson’s deep ball, via the Steelers’ website. “He has arm talent, he has arm strength, he’s got ability to change his trajectory. He’s got pinpoint accuracy in terms of dropping balls. So he’s very talented in that area. I don’t know that there’s anything going on mechanically different that distinguishes it”.
According to Pro Football Focus, Russell Wilson only attempted two passes of 20-plus air yards against the New York Jets, going 2-of-3 for 81 yards. He also went 3-of-4 on throws between 10 and 19 yards in the air for 68 yards and a touchdown. He faced pressure on four of those seven pass attempts, making his success rate even more impressive. But he also owes a debt of thanks to his receivers, particularly George Pickens, for making plays. And Tomlin believes it is a “credit” to the way the Jets played them for opening that area of the field.
“Sometimes it’s just not always him. You guys are pulling from a very small sample size”, Tomlin said when asked about Wilson’s ability to unlock the deep passing game. “It might just be how the New York Jets chose to play defense. They play a lot of man-to-man. We lined up in some bunches and did some play action passes, and like Calvin [Austin III] came free late. Sometimes it’s not about us”.
According to PFF, Justin Fields went 6-of-18 on deep passes, in comparison, for 206 yards. He threw no touchdowns or interceptions, facing one drop. In all, he suffered nine total drops during his six games starting, but mostly on short passes. The Steelers didn’t drop any passes in Russell Wilson’s first game.
The Steelers did, however, find success down the field with Russell Wilson. You can even throw a 29-yard defensive pass interference call in there. But ultimately, it takes three parties to make a completion: the passer, the catcher, and the defense.
For Wilson and the Steelers, the second and third components did their part to enable his success. Some of his deep passes were not his best, though again, they were almost mostly under duress. But they didn’t work because of something magical about them, as some want to portray.
“I don’t know how unique it is. I think everybody that throws a good deep ball has got air under it”, Tomlin said, continuing to shoot down the narrative that Russell Wilson has unlocked something mystical down the field. He is simply good at throwing down the field. If his Steelers teammates talk about “moon balls”, that’s because they haven’t had a reliably good downfield passer in a while. They might not remember what it’s supposed to look like.
