In an AFC North matchup without top pass-catching weapon in wide receiver George Pickens, things were lining up for a typical bad loss by the Pittsburgh Steelers to a bad team in the visiting Cleveland Browns.
But when things got tight, quarterback Russell Wilson delivered.
Playing without Pickens against the Browns due to a hamstring injury suffered by the third-year receiver last Friday in practice, the Steelers’ offense was a bit of a mess early without the standout receiver drawing a ton of attention defensively. Wilson looked out of sync, too, and missed some early throws, including a shot down the field to Mike Williams.
But in the end, even without his sidekick, Wilson settled down and made some big-time throws in the third quarter, helping the Steelers put the game away while answering a big question moving forward against a good defense.
For former NFL scout and current analyst John Middlekauff, who appeared on the Colin Cowherd podcast Sunday night, Wilson’s performance was impressive.
“I thought today was a really big moment for Russell because like you said, I mean George Pickens, it was kind of like [Karl] Malone in [John] Stockton and that was his guy,” Middlekauff said, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “And then you remove him and early on, and the Browns clearly are gonna play very well against these teams in the division.”
Early on, things were a real mess for Wilson and the Steelers. Despite an early field-goal drive thanks to some great work on the ground by running back Najee Harris, the Steelers couldn’t generate much offensively, going three-and-out on four of their first five possessions.
Receivers had trouble getting open, and Wilson rarely had anywhere to throw the football. When guys were open Wilson wasn’t sharp. It was very similar to the start of the game against the New York Jets in Week 7.
Like that game, Wilson settled in eventually. That came in the second half as the Steelers really got into gear offensively. Wilson found Mike Williams for 22 yards on a great back-shoulder throw that led to a one-handed catch from Williams. Wilson also found tight end Pat Freiermuth for 21 yards on a third-down scramble, and then later hit Van Jefferson for a 10-yard touchdown and capped the day with a great 20-yard strike to Freiermuth up the seam for a touchdown.
Without Pickens the offense struggled for much of the game through the air. But when it mattered most, Wilson made throws, and his weapons made plays.
That has Middlekauff taking the Steelers rather seriously moving forward.
“I was impressed today ’cause I thought Cleveland early on was coming to play,” Middlekauff added regarding the Steelers. “Jameis [Winston] was making some plays. Cleveland’s confident against Pittsburgh. They just beat them a couple weeks ago. You’re like, ‘Ugh, this’ll be a bad loss.’
“And they kind of hit the jets and all of a sudden they were up a couple touchdowns and never looked back.”
It had all the makings of a bad loss at home to a bad team, something the Steelers have done at times under Mike Tomlin. But it wasn’t meant to be as Wilson found his groove and the offense took off. Doing that without their standout receiver was impressive and should have people taking the Steelers seriously moving forward.
