The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense with Russell Wilson looked pretty good up until it didn’t. Through the first seven games of the experiment, the Steelers scored over 28 points per game. The only problem is they didn’t manage to top 17 points in their final five games.
So what in the world happened? “That’s exactly what’s being debated internally,” Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote in his most recent chat.
Specifically, Dulac said the Steelers are debating how well the offense played in the first seven games with Russell Wilson.
“Let’s not lay what happened the final five games merely on the fact Wilson was limited with the audibles,” he added.
Considering it was Dulac who reported that the Steelers limited Wilson’s freedom to audible after the sixth game, for him to say that it wasn’t the sole driver in the offensive downturn is significant. Not that it should be surprising, because an offense should still work without audibles. The Steelers limited what Justin Fields was allowed to change, and they had intermittent success with him starting their first six games.
But it’s really a conundrum trying to identify which chapter of the season is closest to reality. There was the opening Justin Fields chapter, which was largely an upward trend in quarterback development. Then there was the seven-game Russell Wilson honeymoon, during which the Steelers went 6-1. But that came to a screeching halt with a five-game losing skid in which they couldn’t top 17 points.
How did they go from scoring over 28 points per game to not even hitting 18 points one single time? The Steelers scored more than 17 points in eight consecutive games, even before Wilson’s first start. And then after Week 14, they didn’t even manage to do that one time? How did that happen, and, more importantly, why?
That is what makes the quarterback decision this offseason so difficult, coupled with the lack of attractive external options. Justin Fields is still an incomplete evaluation, yet the Steelers don’t even know what the Russell Wilson offense looks like. The most likely answer is that it falls somewhere in between—with or without audibles—but such a big decision requires putting in the work.
The Steelers benefited from some good fortune, including a defensive touchdown during the seven-game Russell Wilson honeymoon period. They also benefited from a defense that seemed less opportunistic down the stretch. In the final phase of the season, the unforced errors mounted, especially from Wilson, who had a string of head-scratching giveaways.
So do you take the good with the bad, or do you gamble on the alternative with the athleticism but lower floor in Justin Fields? Russell Wilson is both the quarterback of his first seven games and of the last five. The Steelers know he can be either one of them on any given Sunday, Monday, or Wednesday. Now they have to determine how often they can get the first seven games, and what it will cost. And according to Dulac, that’s part of the debate that’s going on right now.
