Russell Wilson and Lamar Jackson were two of only three quarterbacks entering Week 11 with a passing touchdown streak of 10-plus games. Wilson held the NFL’s longest active streak of 22 games but fell short of the end zone yesterday. Even though his Steelers won, he ceded control of the longest active touchdown streak to Jackson.
Lamar Jackson entered Sunday’s game against the Steelers with at least one touchdown pass in 17 games. Tossing one touchdown late, he now has 18 in a row, far more than anybody else. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Baker Mayfield is now second with 10, on a bye this week. He shares second with the Miami Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa, who threw three touchdown passes yesterday.
Over the course of his first three starts with the Steelers, Russell Wilson tossed six touchdowns. At times, he made it look easy, even losing out on touchdowns due to penalty or oddity (aka George Pickens). In yesterday’s game, however, Wilson looked uncomfortable in an unstable pocket. He threw the ball away several times in the red zone, with one crucial mistake resulting in an interception.
Despite the fact that the Steelers didn’t score a touchdown, they still managed to beat the highest-scoring offense in the NFL. They held the Ravens to nearly half of their usual expected output, with Chris Boswell winning with six field goals. But obviously the Steelers can’t afford for Wilson’s new one-game streak without a touchdown to linger.
The good news is he will have a quick turnaround opportunity. The Steelers play the Cleveland Browns on Thursday, and they are a decidedly mediocre pass defense. Incredibly, they went into Sunday’s game with just one interception. Russell Wilson now has two interceptions and a lost fumble in four games, however, which needs to be tempered.
The fact is sometimes these things happen. Patrick Mahomes went two consecutive games without throwing a touchdown pass earlier this season. The last time Russell Wilson went two games without throwing a touchdown was in the middle of the 2021 season after having just come back from an injury. And then he threw six combined touchdowns over the next three games.
Wilson’s biggest issue on Sunday was obviously the pressure the Steelers’ offensive line allowed. The Browns have some good pass rushers, of course, so that will be a concern on Thursday. The short turnaround doesn’t help them clean up the issue, either, naturally.
But Wilson still managed to throw touchdown passes in an even more unstable environment last year. In fact, he threw a touchdown in every game he started last season with the Denver Broncos. But this is just his 10th win in the 26 games in which he didn’t throw a touchdown pass. Regardless of his own personal stat line, Russell Wilson will always take the W.
