With the debut of Russell Wilson, Sunday marked the first time the Pittsburgh Steelers saw what they wanted to see. Both figuratively and literally, Wilson showed them what they were looking for all along, Ben Roethlisberger believes. After all, they signed him to start, so that was one major step. But the offense also played the way they hoped it could with him in there.
“I think what you saw last night is what the Pittsburgh Steelers hoped they would see in their offense when they got Arthur Smith, when they knew they had Najee [Harris] and Jaylen Warren”, Roethlisberger said on his Footbahlin podcast. “They bolstered their line in the draft, and they went and got Russell Wilson”.
While the Steelers named Wilson their starter, he missed the first five games due to a lingering calf injury. He dressed in Week 6 as the backup, Mike Tomlin using the excuse that he took second-team reps. Despite putting up a season-high in points the week before, Tomlin still took Justin Fields out of the lineup.
That’s because the Steelers wanted to see Russell Wilson run the ship all along. He barely played in the preseason and they still named him the starter. The only reason he didn’t start the opener is because he aggravated that calf injury. And while he had to knock some rust off, he eventually showed them what they were hoping for.
“You wanted a team that was gonna run the ball, was gonna have play-action, was gonna take some shots. And was gonna rely on the run”, Roethlisberger said of the Steelers’ vision with Wilson. “I think the unique thing is [Sunday] night, I think, the run opened up because of the pass. The run and the pass game have to work hand-in-hand. And I think you saw that. You saw some heavy play-action, you saw some boots”.
Not only did the Steelers produce a season-high 37 points, they also produced over 400 yards. They went 7-for-14 on possession-down situations and 4-for-6 in the red zone. And they only improved as the game went along because Russell Wilson improved.
Wilson had last played a meaningful game on Christmas Eve before the Denver Broncos benched him last year for financial reasons. Now, I should point out that he benefited from the Steelers stepping up for him. Sure, George Pickens made some great catches for Justin Fields, too, but Sunday was arguably their cleanest game altogether.
But is that entirely coincidental, or did the Steelers’ offense run smoother in part because of Russell Wilson? After all, he knows a thing or two about how to run an offense, something the Steelers have lacked since Roethlisberger. They wanted to bring in Wilson for that exact reason.
The Steelers rushed for 149 yards, Najee Harris going over 100 for the second straight game. George Pickens also went over 100 yards through the air and found the end zone for the first time this season. If this is a sign of things to come for Russell Wilson, I think everyone has to be for it.
