After starting the season 4-2, the Pittsburgh Steelers made a fairly unanimous and controversial move to start Russell Wilson and bench Justin Fields. Mike Tomlin said the offense was good, but not to be confused with great. They are allowed to look for a spark, and Wilson is the natural choice to provide it.
There are some things the Steelers lose without Fields, but they also have to consider what they gain.
“Obviously, Russ has been to the Super Bowl, he’s been to a couple. He’s been in some hostile environments, he’s been in some really big games. I mean, the pressure is tough. When that happens, he shines in the moment,” Dan Moore Jr. said in an interview. Sportsline with George von Benko on WMBS Radio. “I think for an offensive lineman, when you’re in a situation where you can win the game in two minutes, you have a quarterback with experience. He’s going to get everyone on the same page. That’s the biggest thing. I think that’s a big thing.”
For some reason, the story has dismissed Wilson’s age and experience as negative. While some of his mobility has definitely diminished with age, he has seen everything there is to see from opposing defenses. He’s been through just about every situation imaginable and came out the other side with nine Pro Bowl selections, one Super Bowl ring, and a near-Hall of Fame career.
Players like Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger, Kirk Cousins, Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers, Matt Ryan, and many others have proven to be extremely talented at age 35. I don’t know why he’s suddenly acting like 35 is an abnormal age for a quarterback to perform well, especially one with Russell Wilson’s pedigree and history.
Before the season started, I wrote about some key stats that could help Russell Wilson break the all-time record this year. He ranks 19th in passing yards, 13th in passing touchdowns and 15th in wins. And, to Moore’s point, he’s elite in fourth quarter and game-winning drive scenarios.
He has 31 fourth-quarter comebacks and 39 game-winning drives in his career. This ranks 10th all-time for game-winning drives and 9th all-time for fourth-quarter comebacks.
Maybe I’ll have to take my word for it, but I personally see Wilson bringing a lot to this offense and this team as the veteran leader who originally signed him. are.
