The Pittsburgh Steelers are making a pretty unanimously controversial move by starting Russell Wilson and benching Justin Fields after a 4-2 start to the season. Mike Tomlin said the offense has been good, not to be confused with great. They are cleared looking for a spark, and Wilson is the natural option to provide that.
There are some things the Steelers will be losing by not having Fields out there, but you also have to consider what they will be gaining.
“Obviously Russ has a Super Bowl, been in a couple. He’s been in some hostile environments, been in some of those really big games. So you know, when the pressure’s hot, he’s delivered in those moments,” said Dan Moore Jr. in an interview on Sportsline With George Von Benko via WMBS Radio. “I think for an offensive linemen, when you get in those two-minute game-winning situations, you got a quarterback that you know has experienced. He’s gonna get everybody on the same page. I think that’s the biggest thing.”
For some reason, the narrative has been writing off Wilson’s age and experience as a negative. Obviously some of his mobility has diminished with age, but he has seen everything there is to see from opposing defenses. He has been in every different situation you can think of and come out the other side with nine Pro Bowl selections, one Super Bowl ring, and a borderline Hall of Fame resume.
Guys like Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger, Kirk Cousins, Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers, Matt Ryan, and many others proved to be quite effective at 35 years old. I don’t know why we are suddenly acting like 35 is some outlier age for a quarterback to be performing well, especially one with the pedigree and resume of Russell Wilson.
I wrote about several key statistics that Russell Wilson could advance in this year for the all-time record books before the season began. He is 19th in passing yards, 13th in passing touchdowns, and 15th in wins. And to Moore’s point, he is elite in the fourth quarter and game-winning drive scenarios.
He has 31 career fourth quarter comebacks and 39 career game-winning drives. That is 10th all-time for game-winning drives and T-9th for fourth quarter comebacks.
Maybe I will be forced to eat my words, but I personally see Wilson providing a lot to this offense and this team as the veteran leader they originally signed him to be.
