For the majority of Mike Tomlin’s career as a head coach, he got to work with Ben Roethlisberger, which meant inclement weather was no reason to panic. As Tomlin says, Roethlisberger was “born for ugly days.” The Steelers played in a rainy contest against the Dallas Cowboys earlier in the year, but they haven’t had bad weather since Russell Wilson entered the starting lineup. Tomlin is excited to see how that goes for a possible snow game in Cleveland.
“I enjoyed working with [Roethlisberger]. He was at his best in miserable conditions. He thrived in it. Some people are built like that,” Tomlin told Bob Labriola in an article on Steelers.com.
He hasn’t been around Wilson long enough to know if he fits that description.
“I have not, and I’m excited about it,” Tomlin said. “He likes to talk about the 12 or so months that he spent in Madison, Wisconsin, but the jury’s out. We’ll see.”
Wilson played at the University of Wisconsin for his final year of college. Looking back through the end of that season, I don’t think Wilson played in any cold-weather games. He also played for the Denver Broncos for two seasons and has played in plenty of cold weather games throughout his career.
According to research from Corbin K. Smith via Sports Illustrated, Wilson has played pretty well in cold weather throughout his NFL career. Through the 2019 season, he had 28 touchdowns to 12 interceptions and a 63.8 completion percentage in games below 40 degrees.
Just last season against the Kansas City Chiefs, Wilson led the Broncos to a 24-9 victory with snow on the ground. He completed 12 of his 19 pass attempts for 114 yards and three touchdowns. His last game as a Bronco was at home against the Patriots in sub-freezing temperatures and Wilson completed 25-of-37 passes for 238 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions.
“Hand size and arm strength and arm talent are components of the equation that make every discussion a little different,” Tomlin said of what makes a good cold-weather passer. “Russ has very big hands, like Ben has very big hands, and it really allows them to manipulate and control the ball. I would imagine that he’s going to have a solid aptitude in terms of cutting the wind and controlling the ball in less-than-ideal circumstances.”
Wilson’s hands were measured at 10 1/4-inches coming out of college. That is well above average, and a little over a quarter inch bigger than Roethlisberger’s for reference.
If there is a good deal of wind, the only thing I worry about is the moon ball. If his passes are in the air for 50 percent more time than Justin Fields’ deep balls, then the weather has additional time to influence the ball in the air.
According to the National Weather Service, there is a 90-percent chance of precipitation tonight with light snow accumulation possible. The wind is forecast to be between seven to 14 mph, with gusts of up to 28 mph possible.
