Russell Wilson is enjoying a redemption tour in 2024 as Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback. The nine-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champ had a rocky few seasons with Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos. But since taking over as the Steelers’ starting quarterback in Week 7, Wilson is 6-1, and he’s top six in the NFL in passer rating, yards per game, touchdown/interception ratio, and yards per attempt.
The Steelers’ offense has been rejuvenated by Mr. Unlimited.
The job isn’t finished yet, and Wilson and the Steelers have the toughest stretch of their schedule looming ahead, with three games in 11 days against Super Bowl-contending teams.
“The Steelers are in a position where they need to work on some things,” former NFL cornerback and ESPN analyst Dominique Foxworth said Tuesday on SportsCenter. “They need to challenge Russell to be more of a passer. The hardest thing about having Russell Wilson was getting him to play within the structure. But to win the Super Bowl, he’s going to have to break structure sometimes. So seeing him be able to do that against a great defense like the Eagles would be really impressive.”
Foxworth wants Wilson to rise to the occasion when the Steelers are competing against other teams and quarterbacks that have established themselves as top notch over the last few years. The Eagles, Ravens, and Chiefs, led by Jalen Hurts, Lamar Jackson, and Patrick Mahomes all fit into that category.
This year, Wilson has been exactly what the Steelers have needed him to be. He protects the football, makes pre-snap reads, commands the huddle, goes through his progressions, and operates extremely well in play-action. He plays within the structure that Mike Tomlin and offensive coordinator Arthur Smith created. The results speak for themselves.
In seven games with Wilson, the Steelers are averaging 28.4 points (would be fifth in the NFL on the season). The passing game is humming. Many different receivers, backs, and tight ends are involved. It hasn’t always been perfect, like the six-field goal win against the Ravens or the 24-19 loss at the Browns, but Wilson’s undoubtedly boosted the entire offense to a level that it hasn’t reached since Big Ben Roethlisberger was still in his prime.
Foxworth is still saying that Wilson and the Steelers need to work on some things, and he’s right. Their red-zone offense has been far from perfect. Or even good. They rank 29th in red-zone TD percentage at 45.7. Also, through 13 games the Steelers haven’t scored a touchdown on an opening drive.
The offense is slow starting, and it can go through periods of completely stalling out, particularly when the Steelers can’t establish the run game.
The Eagles and Chiefs feature two of the best defenses in the NFL, which will test Russell Wilson’s ability to make enough plays to keep the Steelers in games against Super Bowl-level teams. And he may have to do it without his top receiver in George Pickens, who’s likely to at least miss this week’s matchup against the Eagles with a hamstring injury.
Wilson isn’t the mobile quarterback that he was in Seattle who would constantly freestyle and make ridiculous plays out of nothing. He’s 36 years old, and he’s playing in a new offense that wants him to stick to the system. In the playoffs, and in these upcoming matchups, there will be times where the Steelers need vintage Russell Wilson to work his magic.
He’s shown flashes, but he’ll have to do even more to beat the best of the best.
