Remember that time Russell Wilson led the Steelers to 37 points and all was right with the world? He only took one sack in that game, and it looked like the offense had finally found its stride. Well, if they had a stride, they have certainly fallen off of it.
That is no more true than in pass protection, in which Russell Wilson shares considerable blame. Historically one of the most sack-prone quarterbacks, he is living up to the billing with the Steelers. In fact, since his clean start, he has been taking sacks at a career-worst rate. It appears the game against the Jets was a mirage.
Excluding scrambles, Wilson dropped back to pass 29 times against the Jets, taking one sack. That is a very healthy sack rate of just 3.33 percent, which is where you want to be. The problem is, he and the Steelers have been around or above 10 percent for the past four weeks.
Russell Wilson has taken 543 sacks in his career, soon to pass Ben Roethlisberger for the fourth-most in NFL history. He has taken a sack on 8.54 percent of his drop backs since entering the NFL, with two seasons above 10 percent. At his worst, the current Steelers quarterback was sacked on 10.67 percent of his drop backs in 2018 in Seattle.
Over the past four games, he is taking a sack at rates even higher than that. For the season, Wilson is being sacked on 9.7 percent of his drop backs, which is already the fourth-worst for his career. But since Week 8, he is taking a sack on 11.11 percent of his drop backs.
The Steelers have allowed a sack on Wilson 15 times over the past four games, at least three in each. He has 120 pass attempts in that time. With 135 drop backs and 15 sacks, he is on pace to take the most sacks per drop back of his career.
Russell Wilson is the common denominator in his career-long high sack rate, of course. But it’s hard to really assess the Steelers in pass protection given that Justin Fields also historically takes a high rate of sacks. With the eye test, it does appear to be an area of concern right now, especially at right tackle.
But Wilson’s own issues only exacerbate the problem, including his diminished mobility over the years. At times, he looks every bit his age, even when he thinks he can still run like he’s 25. The Steelers have to save him from himself in these situations, but they’re not.
It doesn’t help that the Steelers are forced to start two rookies. RG Mason McCormick admitted the Browns threw some different fronts at them that gave the offense issues. Zach Frazier has had a very good rookie season. But playing with a rookie has a ripple effect on the whole line, and on the quarterback. Wilson and company always have to be sure they know what they’re doing—even if they almost always do.
