It wasn’t that long ago that the Pittsburgh Steelers and QB Russell Wilson were in the driver’s seat for the AFC North title. They were 10-3 only three weeks ago with a win in hand over the Baltimore Ravens. Unfortunately, they dropped three straight games during an 11-day stretch to fall to 10-6 and one game back of the Ravens. They need the Cleveland Browns to beat the Ravens on Saturday and they need to beat the Cincinnati Bengals to claim the division title.
And there’s no question that they played arguably the best teams they faced all year during that stretch. They traveled east to take on the Philadelphia Eagles. Six days later, they were on the road in Baltimore to face the Ravens. Then only four days later, they were at home to face the two-time reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.
It was a brutal stretch. And it may just have shown that the Steelers, while a good team, just aren’t good enough to be a true Super Bowl contender. Is it head coach Mike Tomlin’s fault? Or is there more at play here?
“It does feel like they’ve bumped their heads up against the ceiling this year,” former NFL OL Marshall Newhouse said Monday on GoJo and Golic. “Ultimately, that’s just a QB problem because their defense at times is pretty dominant. That’s a defense that you feel like you can win a playoff-style game with. But even in Russ’ height, highs of highs this year, you’re left wanting a little bit more on offense. There’s just little moments of this team that you’re like they are very close. But they don’t feel like they’re squeezing everything they can out of it. And is that a Mike Tomlin thing?
“Ultimately, this is a quarterback-driven league. He has responsibility in picking the quarterback. And I think he made the right decision in going to Russ over Justin Fields, which a lot of people doubted. But they don’t have a guy like everyone else does who’s in contention, who’s a quarterback who you’re like, all right, give me the ball, even with Russ’s Super Bowl-caliber history, give me the ball and give it to our offense with the last possession and we’ll go win you the game.”
What’s holding Mike Tomlin’s playoff-contending Steelers back from reaching their full potential?
“Ultimately, this is a quarterback-driven league; he has a responsibility in picking the quarterback. I think he made the right decision in going to Russ over Fields, which a lot of… pic.twitter.com/VcPxApFWya
— DraftKings Network (@DKNetwork) December 30, 2024
We can certainly quibble over Newhouse’s comments on the defense. The Steelers do lead the league in takeaways with 31. They’re just outside the top 10 in yards allowed (11th at 5,240). But they have given up 400+ yards in two of their last three games.
But still, the defense by and large has given the Steelers chances to win games throughout the season. In one of the most brutal losses this season, the defense gave up a last-second touchdown on fourth down to the Dallas Cowboys. But they did generate three turnovers that the offense did not do anything with. It resulted in a 20-17 loss at home.
And even in the loss to the Eagles, the Steelers still forced two turnovers. But the offense only scored 13 points, a then-low for the Steelers with Wilson under center.
That low mark only stood for two weeks before Wilson and company only scored 10 against the Chiefs on Christmas Day. And that’s the crux of the issue in Newhouse’s mind.
The offense, while overall improved with Russell Wilson as QB1, just has not been consistently good enough against the best competition. In the 10 games with Russell Wilson, the offense has failed to score 20 points five times. The Steelers are 1-4 in those games.
It’s not that Wilson has been abjectly terrible. But he’s committed five turnovers in the last three games, two interceptions and three fumbles. (You can argue that the fumble against the Ravens should have counted against RB Najee Harris, though). But the reality is, when the Steelers needed their offense at its best, Wilson has turned the ball over in key spots.
And it’s not just the turnovers. Wilson has also been under plenty of pressure over the last few games. He was sacked twice by the Eagles, three times by the Ravens, and five times by the Chiefs. Is that on the offensive line or on him? Well, Pro Football Focus thinks a significant chunk of that falls on Wilson’s shoulders.
It’s a double dose of critical issues plaguing Wilson and the Steelers’ offense right now. They’re turning the ball over and creating pressure problems against good teams. And if both of those issues continue once the playoffs roll around, it will certainly hold them back against teams like the Chiefs, Ravens, and the Buffalo Bills.
