The Pittsburgh Steelers are in the midst of a three-game losing streak. They lost to the Kansas City Chiefs, 29-10, on Christmas Day. Ten are the fewest points the offense has scored all season with either quarterback starting. And QB Russell Wilson failed to throw a touchdown for the second time since taking over as the starter in Week 7.
In the midst of that three-game losing streak, the offense has failed to score more than 17 points in any game. It’s a far cry from the offense that hung 20+ in five of the previous seven games. But is it simply Wilson is regressing? Or is there a bigger issue at play?
“The Steelers’ offensive line is not protecting Russell Wilson,” former Steelers NT Chris Hoke on KDKA Nightly Sports Call after the Chiefs game. “He can’t sit in the pocket. Guys are screaming off the edge, the pocket’s getting pushed back. You need time in the pocket to be able to throw the ball down the field. The time goes quick. How many times was Russell Wilson trying to roll out of the pocket and then when you’re running, rolling out of the pocket, everything’s happening so fast. Everything’s blurry and you’re only seeing half the field, so I believe that they need to start up front.
“When he was throwing the deep ball down the field [earlier in the season], he had more time to throw the football. And the offensive line has to get back on their Ps and Qs. They’ve got to be able to figure out some of these blitzes or just man-to-man, win those matchups or they’re not going to push the ball down the field because when Russell Wilson first came on the scene, he was throwing that deep ball. He was hitting the moon balls. You haven’t seen them because he’s running for his life very regularly.”
Per Pro Football Focus, the last three weeks have been three of Wilson’s worst performances as a Steelers quarterback. And to no one’s surprise, opposing defenses have brought Wilson down at least twice in each of those games.
But it all came to a head on Christmas Day against the Chiefs. They pressured Wilson 20 times and sacked him five times. Both numbers were a season-high for Wilson. The fourth sack meant Wilson also passed former Steelers Super Bowl-winning QB Ben Roethlisberger for third on the all-time most-sacked quarterback list. Not the most prestigious list to pass Roethlisberger on.
And for historical context, defensive pressures are turning into sacks at a rate of 21.3 percent this season for Wilson. That number would rank as the third-highest number of his career.
Wilson has also had two turnover-worthy plays in each of the last two games. Before that, he only had three total all season.
And we can see that Wilson’s deep-ball productivity has dropped. Prior to the three-game losing streak, Wilson only had two games with less than seven yards per attempt. He’s averaged less than that in all three games (along with less than six yards per attempt twice).
So statistically, we see that Russell Wilson is playing some of his worst football during this three-game stretch. A huge part of that is because he’s being pressured at quite a high rate. And when he’s pressured, his completion percentage drops nearly 30 points (73.9 to 44.9). He also averages nearly two yards per attempt less (8.3 to 6.4).
Also, as Hoke noted, Wilson has been running for his life. He’s scrambled 10 times in the last three games, including a season-high six times against the Chiefs, per PFF. He’s also averaging over three seconds to throw in each of the last two games. Wilson is holding onto the ball and scrambling to make plays. He’s been at his best when he’s been able to drop back and attack defenses deep. But he hasn’t been able to do that lately because of the defensive pressure.
So if the Steelers want to see their offense improve heading into Week 18 and especially the playoffs, they need to keep Russell Wilson protected. Otherwise, expect to see Wilson scrambling even more and few points going up on the scoreboard.
