Player: QB Russell Wilson
Stock Value: Down
Reasoning: Russell Wilson didn’t play horribly, but he had arguably the two most egregious mistakes in the game. With two backbreaking giveaways, the Steelers let a chance to claim the AFC North title slip away. And now they have to wait until Week 18 to find out how things play out.
The quarterback position wields great power, and with it, great responsibility. The quarterback’s number one job is to protect the football, and Russell Wilson failed in that spectacularly yesterday. With his two giveaways, the Steelers lost out on scoring chances while the Ravens put up points.
Now, it’s hard to fault Wilson for the defense giving up a 96-yard touchdown drive, granted. Wilson had no business fumbling inside the 5-yard line, or anywhere, but any defense should be able to protect 90-plus yards of real estate.
On the other hand, there was nothing the defense could do about the other one. In fact, after nabbing an interception, the defense watched Russell Wilson give it right back and worse. Looking for MyCole Pruitt for some reason, he threw right to CB Marlon Humphrey. And for the first time in his career, he took it back to the house.
Wilson threw a pick-six earlier this year against the Bengals, but that was under highly questionable circumstances. On this one, Wilson really only has himself to blame, putting the ball in a bad spot. The Steelers trailed just 24-17 at the time, and this made it 31-17. His earlier fumble also kept at least three points off the board, so that’s a lot of points for one player.
While those were costly, costly mistakes, Russell Wilson also made some plays. He finished the game 22-of-33 for 217 yards and two touchdowns, plus one interception. He made some nice throws and showed off his talent, even some maneuverability. But when you give the ball away twice, including a defensive touchdown, that rightfully overshadows the rest.
As the season progresses, Steelers players’ stocks rise and fall. The nature of the evaluation differs with the time of year, with in-season considerations being more often short-term. Considerations in the offseason often have broader implications, particularly when players lose their jobs, or the team signs someone. This time of year is full of transactions, whether minor or major.
A bad game, a new contract, an injury, a promotion—any number of things affect a player’s value. Think of it as a stock on the market, based on speculation. You’ll feel better about a player after a good game, or worse after a bad one. Some stock updates are minor, while others are likely to be quite drastic, so bear in mind the degree. I’ll do my best to explain the nature of that in the reasoning section of each column.
