It may have looked like a gamble when Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin made the quarterback switch in Week 7. QB Justin Fields was 4-2 starting in place of the injured Russell Wilson. However, since Wilson took over as the starter, the Steelers are 6-1.
The offensive numbers also back up Wilson’s record. Prior to Wilson taking over in Week 7 against the Jets, the Steelers had scored 20 or more points three times. They had only broken 30 points once. Under Wilson, they’ve scored at least 20 points five times and at least 30 points twice.
Per the Football Night In America crew, the Steelers are averaging 372 yards and 28.4 points in seven games with Wilson at quarterback. That has former NFL Super Bowl-winning head coach Tony Dungy singing Wilson’s praises.
“Russell had that calf injury to start the year, so he didn’t play,” said Dungy during Football Night In America’s Who’s Eatin’ Good segment on Wednesday. “But had he played the whole season and put up numbers like this, we’d be talking about him. Right now everybody, I think Josh Allen’s probably the [MVP] favorite. [Jared] Goff has put up some tremendous numbers. [Sam] Darnold is kind of in the background, even though he’s putting up great numbers. But Russell Wilson, those are MVP-type numbers if he had played the whole year.”
Wilson will not be in the true conversation for the league’s Most Valuable Player award simply because he didn’t play the first six games of the season. But it’s hard to ignore that he’s been darn good for the Steelers since taking over. He’s averaging 254.9 passing yards per game and averaging 8.4 yards per attempt while completing 64.8 percent of his passes. He’s thrown for 12 touchdowns in his seven starts (5.6 percent of his throws result in a touchdown).
And unlike Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen, Detroit Lions QB Jared Goff, and even Minnesota Vikings QB Sam Darnold, we’ve seen what the Steelers’ offense looks like with and without Russell Wilson as the starter. Fields did an admirable job as the starter to open the season and won four games. But Wilson has truly elevated the passing game. The Steelers are now a top-10 offense in terms of points per game at 24.8. And the Steelers are averaging more than a field goal better than that with Wilson starting.
Oh, and there is one area where Wilson is far clear of any other NFL quarterback. He’s generating positive explosive plays at a rate higher than any other quarterback. And he’s limiting negative plays, too. That’s not really supposed to happen. The more risks you take, the more problems that creates. But Wilson is making it work so far.
Would Russell Wilson be in the MVP conversation had he started Week 1 and played to this level all season? Maybe. At least that’s what Tony Dungy thinks.
