The Pittsburgh Steelers knew they needed a quarterback before the 2024 season began. To remedy the issue, they brought in Russell Wilson. Since he’s stepped onto the field in Week 7, he’s done exactly what Pittsburgh hoped he would. The Steelers do have a couple of tough losses with Wilson at the helm, but he’s already got them in the playoffs, and the Steelers still control their own destiny in the AFC North.
Although his tenure with the Steelers is young, and will likely extend beyond this season) he’s been the league for quite a while. With that in mind, teams have long been familiar with the veteran quarterback. They know what he’s able to do well, and vice versa. Whether they can stop it or not is another question.
On Tuesday, HBO released the fourth episode of their AFC North ‘Hard Knocks’ series. During the episode, we got a glimpse as to how the Baltimore Ravens were preparing for the Steelers’ quarterback. Noah Riley, Ravens’ Defensive Football Analyst, summed up Wilson’s game as best he could.
“Russell Wilson, it’s three pointers and layups,” Riley said. “There’s no mid-range with this dude. He throws that intermediate ball the least in the NFL. He throws the deep ball more than anyone in the NFL. If we shut that down, we take a big part of what they do away, making them beat us left-handed.”
This is an analogy-heavy quote from Riley, but it’s interesting to get a glimpse as to how Wilson is being scouted by the rest of the league. To his credit, Riley’s not wrong, although it’s not exactly new information either. Since Wilson was inserted into the lineup, the Steelers pushed the ball downfield much more than they have in recent years.
It seems Ravens’ analytics play a role not just in preparation for coaches but for players, Riley personally delivering the message to the team. An interesting way to connect data with X’s and O’s as opposed to having these guys toil away staring at spreadsheets in dimly-lit upstairs offices.
While the Ravens wanted to be prepared for Wilson’s deep ball, he still had some downfield success The most notable of those moments came when Wilson hit Calvin Austin III on a 44-yard bomb down the sideline.
To the Ravens credit, they did what they needed in order to contain Wilson and the Steelers’ offense on Saturday. Baltimore had a crucial pick-six off Wilson late in the game, answering the call of FS Minkah Fitzpatrick’s pick and sealing the win.
While Wilson has been tough to stop in 2024, Hard Knocks offered a glimpse into how teams slow him down.
