Earlier than touchdown with the Pittsburgh Steelers this previous offseason, NFL followers had witnessed two variations of Russell Wilson. The primary of these is his time with the Seattle Seahawks. In Seattle, Wilson took the Seahawks to 2 Tremendous Bowls. He gained considered one of them and was a goal-line interception from Malcolm Butler away from profitable a second.
Then, there’s Wilson’s stint with the Denver Broncos. There, issues by no means labored out. Wilson had Nathaniel Hackett as his Head Coach in his first 12 months, and Sean Payton in his second. Whereas Wilson did statistically enhance in his second 12 months as a Bronco, it appeared clear that it was time for a break up for each side.
Thus, Wilson grew to become a Steeler. Ever since then, the large query has been whether he can return to his form in Seattle, or if his time with the Broncos represented his eventual decline. Steelers’ followers needed to wait till Week 7 to get a solution to that query. Fortuitously, it’s laborious to complain concerning the outcomes thus far.
NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger appeared on The Herd With Colin Cowherd, and he thinks Wilson is taking part in eerily much like his days in Seattle.
“Quite a lot of it’s like when he [Wilson] performed in Seattle with Pete Carroll,” Baldinger stated. “I imply with beast mode [Marshawn Lynch] they have been a run-first workforce in Seattle. He needed to make some performs all through the sport, and he had the receivers to do it. It’s very related in Pittsburgh proper now. They’ve acquired a staunch protection, they take the ball away. They usually run the ball… He’s doing sufficient proper now, however he doesn’t must do an excessive amount of.
Baldinger makes level right here. Whereas Pittsburgh did simply purchase Mike Williams, Wilson didn’t precisely have a ton of receiving assist throughout his first two video games. Nevertheless, he was helped massively by the run sport. Pittsburgh’s victory in opposition to the Washington Commanders was the first game in nearly a month that Najee Harris didn’t decide up 100 yards on the bottom. Wilson has additionally had the assistance of a protection that regularly makes massive performs when they should.
Wilson has been stable for the Steelers. He hasn’t been spectacular, however he’s finished precisely what he wanted to do to assist Pittsburgh win. As Baldinger alludes to, that is likely to be all he has to do to steer the Steelers on a deep playoff run.
