Let’s not try and sugarcoat it: Pittsburgh Steelers QB Russell Wilson hasn’t played well recently. After coming back from a calf injury scorching hot and leading the team to a four game winning streak, Wilson has lost the magic down the stretch of the season. During the team’s three-game losing streak, he’s averaging just 182 passing yards, one touchdown and a 38.7 QBR. Worst of all, he’s taking bad sacks each week, averaging over three a game during the stretch.
Still, Wilson has already shown this season that when he gets hot, it can turn into fireworks and once the playoffs hit, oftentimes, it’s the team that is the hottest that goes the distance. According to Pro Football Focus’ Trevor Sikkema, Wilson needs to start heating up Saturday against the Bengals for the Steelers to have a chance in the postseason.
“You need to see better of him,” Sikkema said on the PFF NFL Preview Show, “He needs to be able to put his best foot forward because sometimes in the playoffs we have seen this before it is not always about the team that has run the regular season wire to wire. Sometimes it’s just the team that gets hot. This defensive line has the ability to do that. Does Russell Wilson and this offense, even with them being boom or bust, can you get that boom?”
It’s a good question. The Steelers’ defense overall has held up well this season. Sure, the last game had its issues with a myriad of miscommunications leading to a Christmas Day beatdown, but they have Pro Bowl-caliber players at each level of their defense and have shown they can rise to the occasion. If they can sort out their communication issues and round back into their form, the defense can surely get hot as Sikkema said.
The offense is a different story. The unit is hell-bent on being a run-first offense despite not being proficient at running the ball. The Steelers run the ball the fourth most in the NFL at 49.85%, but are wildly inefficient, averaging just 4.1 a clip, which is tied for 23rd in the league.
As for the passing game, it’s been noted how highly reliant the Steelers are on George Pickens. It’s no secret that some of Wilson’s worst games this season came when the dynamic wide receiver was on the shelf. Pickens, despite missing three games, still leads the team in receiving yards by over 332 and targets by 30.
The good news is that Wilson and the Steelers’ struggling offense are gearing up to play the Bengals, who have one of the worst defenses in football. The last team the Steelers played them this season, Wilson threw for 414 yards and three touchdowns, leading his team to a 44-38 shootout win.
If he can recapture that momentum in the final week of the season and get on the same page as his receivers, maybe the Steelers can be more boom than bust during the playoffs.
