Before landing with the Pittsburgh Steelers this past offseason, NFL fans had witnessed two versions of Russell Wilson. The first of those is his time with the Seattle Seahawks. In Seattle, Wilson took the Seahawks to two Super Bowls. He won one of them and was a goal-line interception from Malcolm Butler away from winning a second.
Then, there’s Wilson’s stint with the Denver Broncos. There, things never worked out. Wilson had Nathaniel Hackett as his Head Coach in his first year, and Sean Payton in his second. While Wilson did statistically improve in his second year as a Bronco, it seemed clear that it was time for a split for both sides.
Thus, Wilson became a Steeler. Ever since then, the big question has been whether he can return to his form in Seattle, or if his time with the Broncos represented his eventual decline. Steelers’ fans had to wait until Week 7 to get an answer to that question. Fortunately, it’s hard to complain about the results so far.
NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger appeared on The Herd With Colin Cowherd, and he thinks Wilson is playing eerily similar to his days in Seattle.
“A lot of it is like when he [Wilson] played in Seattle with Pete Carroll,” Baldinger said. “I mean with beast mode [Marshawn Lynch] they were a run-first team in Seattle. He had to make some plays throughout the game, and he had the receivers to do it. It’s very similar in Pittsburgh right now. They’ve got a staunch defense, they take the ball away. And they run the ball… He’s doing enough right now, but he doesn’t have to do too much.
Baldinger makes a good point here. While Pittsburgh did just acquire Mike Williams, Wilson didn’t exactly have a ton of receiving help during his first two games. However, he was helped massively by the run game. Pittsburgh’s victory against the Washington Commanders was the first game in nearly a month that Najee Harris didn’t pick up 100 yards on the ground. Wilson has also had the help of a defense that continually makes big plays when they need to.
Wilson has been solid for the Steelers. He hasn’t been spectacular, but he’s done exactly what he needed to do to help Pittsburgh win. As Baldinger alludes to, that might be all he has to do to lead the Steelers on a deep playoff run.
