Tag: Russell Wilson

All 32 starting NFL QBs (including Russell Wilson) ranked by Total QBR

Where does Russell Wilson rank among the rest of the league in Total QBR?

Since switching from Justin Fields to Russell Wilson, the Pittsburgh Steelers have gone 4-0 and are on top in the AFC North. The team is 8-2 and if the playoffs started today, would be the No. 3 seed in the playoffs.

There are lost of ways to look at quarterback success but many say wins simply aren’t enough. Perhaps the most thorough measure of a quarterback’s contribution to that win is Total QBR, developed by ESPN. Here is the full ranking of all 32 NFL quarterbacks by Total QBR after Week 11 including Wilson.

NFL QBs ranked by Total QBR after Week 11

  1. Joe Burrow: 76.1
  2. Lamar Jackson: 75.0
  3. Kyler Murray: 74.9
  4. Josh Allen: 72.7
  5. Jayden Daniels: 67.6
  6. Brock Purdy: 67.4
  7. Patrick Mahomes: 67.0
  8. Derek Carr: 62.1
  9. Jalen Hurts: 62.0
  10. Matthew Stafford: 60.6
  11. Tua Tagovailoa: 60.4
  12. Drake Maye: 59.6
  13. Jared Goff: 59.4
  14. Jordan Love: 59.3
  15. Kirk Cousins: 56.3
  16. Justin Herbert: 56.3
  17. Baker Mayfield: 56.2
  18. Sam Darnold: 55.7
  19. Geno Smith: 55.4
  20. Bo Nix: 55.3
  21. C.J. Stroud: 54.4
  22. Aaron Rodgers: 51.0
  23. Jameis Winston: 61.0
  24. Russell Wilson: 59.5
  25. Anthony Richardson: 45.9
  26. Caleb Williams: 44.5
  27. Gardner Minshew: 39.1
  28. Will Levis: 32.6
  29. Bryce Young: 32.5
  30. Cooper Rush: 28.4
  31. Mac Jones: 17.7
  32. Drew Lock: 8.7

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ESPN analyst lists Steelers as favorites to sign Daniel Jones in 2025

Could Daniel Jones find a fresh start in Pittsburgh? One ESPN analyst sees the Steelers as a top landing spot if the Giants move on in 2025.

Pittsburgh is slowly becoming a quarterback rehab center, where struggling signal callers leave their worries, and former teams, behind to become a much more confident QB. Russell Wilson and Justin Fields looked far more comfortable with the Steelers than they did with the Broncos and Bears, respectively, and now it appears one ESPN analyst believes Pittsburgh could add one more name to this list come the 2025 offseason.

QB Daniel Jones of the New York Giants has seemingly fallen out of the team’s aspirations for their long-term future, with backup QB Tommy DeVito being named the team’s starter by Head Coach Brian Daboll.

ESPN analyst Ben Solak fully expects the Giants to cut Jones in 2025 and touched on potential landing spots for the QB, shooting down the New York Jets as suitors while hyping up Pittsburgh’s odds: “I’m also keeping my eyes on the Steelers (current running favorite), Titans and Browns.”

If the Pittsburgh Steelers are unable to keep Fields or Wilson past 2024, could Jones provide a much-needed bridge in 2025 while the team searches for their future signal caller?

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Why Justin Fields is the Steelers’ X-factor heading into Week 12’s TNF

The Justin Fields package helped secure a Week 11 win for the Steelers and could play a major role against Cleveland’s defense in Week 12.

While it can be argued that too much blame is being placed on Russell Wilson’s shoulders for the Steelers’ Week 11 offensive struggles, one key takeaway from Pittsburgh’s offense remains: the ‘Justin Fields package‘ was immaculate.

The Fields rushing package has been teased since the Steelers traded for the former Bears QB, and it finally came to fruition in Week 11 against the Baltimore Ravens.

The Steelers brought Fields in for a QB power play and two QB-RB options that helped seal the Week 11 victory for Pittsburgh. In Week 12, facing a relentless Cleveland pass rush led by 2023 Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett, the Steelers may be forced to rely on the Fields package as the focal point of the rushing attack.

Fields isn’t just a running QB; he can also sling it deep if the game script calls for it, and this versatility could prove to be Cleveland’s downfall in the upcoming Thursday Night Football game.

Will Steelers OC Arthur Smith utilize both Wilson’s and Fields’ greatest strengths in unison? Between Wilson’s ‘moon ball’ and Fields’ speed, not many defenses in the league can prepare for this offensive tandem.

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Mike Tomlin spares no feelings regarding Russell Wilson’s Week 11 INT

Mike Tomlin addresses Russell Wilson’s costly interception in Week 11 as the Steelers prepare for Thursday Night Football against Cleveland.

While Russell Wilson has led the Steelers to four consecutive victories in each of his past four starts, Head Coach Mike Tomlin was unimpressed with one specific play from Week 11 against Baltimore.

The offense was struggling to score touchdowns against a stingy Ravens defense, and Wilson almost made a spectacular touchdown pass to TE Darnell Washington.

Wilson escaped pressure, scrambled to his right, and threw up a jump ball to the 6’7″ dynamic tight end in the end zone, but Washington watched it fly past his head and into the arms of Ravens CB Marlon Humphrey.

While the blame game was to be expected, Tomlin wasted no time letting everyone know who he believes was at fault: “I just wish Russ hadn’t thrown it.”

The Pittsburgh Steelers brought Wilson in to make plays for their offense, and Tomlin shouldn’t be surprised nor discourage Wilson’s willingness to take these risks.

Tomlin and the Wilson-led Steelers offense will look to get back on track against the Cleveland Browns on, Thursday Night Football, on November 21st at 8:15 PM EST.

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Have the Ravens solved their defensive struggles with a reshuffled secondary?

Have the Ravens solved their defensive struggles with a reshuffled secondary?

By far, the Baltimore Ravens‘ biggest weakness and biggest surprise through 11 weeks of the 2024 season has been the secondary’s play. The Ravens entered the season with what looked like one of the league’s top coverage units on paper, but reality disagreed once the pads came on.

All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton, cornerback Marlon Humphrey, and rookie first-round cornerback Nate Wiggins have all had good seasons. Still, the drastic falloff from veteran free safety Marcus Williams and cornerback Brandon Stephens to go with poor play from newly acquired safety Eddie Jackson has tanked Baltimore’s pass defense. Through 11 weeks, the Ravens have allowed the most passing yards in the league.

After allowing quarterback Joe Burrow to throw for 428 yards and four touchdowns, with wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase going for 264 yards and three touchdowns through the air against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 10, Baltimore decided to make changes on the backend of the defense. Williams was benched for the second time this season, while Hamilton and Ar’Darious Washington formed the starting safety duo against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 11. This was a change for Hamilton, as the do-it-all star is best known for his game-wrecking ability closer to the line of scrimmage, but after the results against the Steelers, he may have found a new home on the defense to finish this year.

The Ravens’ secondary stifled quarterback Russell Wilson, holding him to 205 passing yards, zero touchdowns, and -7.41 expected points through the air. Wide receiver George Pickens was held under 100 yards and out of the endzone, with cornerback Tre’Davious White having a pair of impressive pass deflections against him to prevent touchdowns. White played 24 snaps against Pittsburgh, eating into Stephens’ role on the boundary.

While the Steelers offense has not been one of the league’s best this season, Wilson’s ability to connect with Pickens down the field was something to fear coming into the game, and Baltimore kept a lid on the duo for the most part. The Ravens will face more formidable challenges to see if reshuffling the secondary has fixed the issues plaguing the defense, starting with a Monday Night Football showdown against star quarterback Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers.

Bill Belichick says Sean Payton should be a Coach of the Year candidate

“They don’t even have a full team here from a salary cap standpoint,” Bill Belichick said of what Sean Payton is doing with the Broncos.

The Denver Broncos are 6-5 and within reach of making the playoffs, and former NFL coach Bill Belichick has taken notice.

During his appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Monday, Belichick suggested that Broncos coach Sean Payton should be in consideration for Coach of the Year honors.

Technically, Belichick said “Executive of the Year” for the way Payton has managed the team, but that’s not an award Payton would qualify for.

“I think Sean really should be in the running for — whatever, Executive of the Year or whatever you want to call it,” Belichick said. “I mean, to play with, you know, a team that’s 30% under the strength based on the salary cap and the dead money that they had to carry.

“They don’t even have a full team here from a salary cap standpoint. But these guys are playing really well and they’re in a tough division, but seems like they’re getting better. And they’re good on defense.”

The Broncos took on a $53 million dead money cap hit this spring when they released quarterback Russell Wilson. Despite that, Denver’s been competitive this fall, which is no small feat.

Belichick also spoke about the fit Nix has been in Payton’s offense as a rookie.

“Sean runs a tough offense,” Belichick said. “He does. They substitute almost on every play. They change formations a lot. They don’t repeat plays — they repeat concepts but not plays. There’s a lot for the quarterback to do to get things organized cleanly, and it seems like Nix is doing a good job of it. … It’s a pretty smooth operation.”

Notable praise from one of the best coaches in NFL history. Payton and Nix appear to have the Broncos back on track.

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Should the Steelers be worried about Russell Wilson?

The Steelers are winning but Russell Wilson isn’t playing well.

A win is a win, right? Maybe not. We’ve seen Pittsburgh Steelers teams win in spite of poor quarterback play before and when the playoffs get here, it never ends well. The Steelers made the move from Justin Fields to Russell Wilson a month ago and the team has gone undefeated during that stretch.

But the last two weeks have been ugly performances by Wilson with Sunday’s against the Baltimore Ravens his least inspiring. Wilson looked lost at times, panicked and was not prepared for what should have been an easy day against the worst pass defense in the NFL.

When the Steelers needed a quarterback to make a play on Sunday and close out the win, the team turned to Justin Fields and he delivered.

What the Steelers have done through 10 games has been tremendous. The defense, special teams and coaching all deserve a huge amount of credit for these wins even when the offense isn’t at it’s best. But with seven more really tough games left on the schedule, should the Steelers lean in more to Fields or is it more about pushing Wilson to do more in the passing game?

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How the Justin Fields package became the Steelers’ secret weapon

The Pittsburgh Steelers may have unlocked their ultimate offensive weapon with the debut of the Justin Fields rushing-package in Week 11.

In what can only be described as a purely defensive contest, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Week 11 victory over the Baltimore Ravens paved the way for the debut of the long-awaited ‘Justin Fields package’ on offense.

Russell Wilson struggled against the Ravens’ defense, throwing for 205 yards while completing 63.9% of his passes and producing his lowest QBR of the season: 67.5. However, much of the blame should be placed on Pittsburgh’s pass protection, as the Ravens constantly had Wilson under pressure and sacked him four times.

Where the offense looked promising, however, was in several Justin Fields packages that featured three plays: one QB-power play and two QB-RB option plays that sealed the Steelers’ Week 11 victory.

Wilson’s ‘moon ball’ is a deep threat unlike anything the NFL has seen this season, but Pittsburgh’s implementation of Fields’ rushing abilities will make opposing defenses second-guess every meeting with the Steelers.

Wilson and Fields can tear through defenses in their own unique ways, and it was refreshing for fans to see what the Pittsburgh Steelers will be capable of moving forward when utilizing both talented QBs.

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Steelers fans react to Chris Boswell’s incredible Week 11 performance

Chris Boswell shines again, leading the Steelers to an 8-2 start in 2024 going six for six on field goals in Week 11’s victory.

The ‘Wizard of Boz’ strikes again. While fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers anticipated QBs Russell Wilson and Lamar Jackson to create a high-scoring Week 11 contest, they were instead treated to another Chris Boswell masterclass.

Boswell has achieved accolade after accolade to begin the 2024 season, being named AFC Special Teams Player of the Month in both September and October, as well as kicking his 1,000th career point in the Steelers’ Week 3 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.

His best performance in 2024 came all the way back in Week 1, kicking a perfect six-for-six field goals from 57, 56, 51, 44, 40, and 25 yards.

Boswell matched his season-best six field goals made in the Steelers’ Week 11 victory over the Ravens, kicking for 57, 52, 50, 32, 32, and 27 yards.

The Steelers’ kicker is putting together one of his best seasons to date, with his confidence, accuracy, and consistency rallying his team to an unbelievable 8-2 start in 2024.

Here are some of the best fan reactions to Boswell’s immaculate Week 11 performance.

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Steelers survive Ravens despite anemic offensive performance

The Pittsburgh Steelers failed to score a touchdown, relying solely on kicker Chris Boswell to outscore the Baltimore Ravens.

Despite a lackluster offensive showing, the Pittsburgh Steelers narrowly defeated the Baltimore Ravens 18-16. The Steelers failed to score a touchdown, relying solely on kicker Chris Boswell, who delivered six field goals, including a decisive 50-yarder late in the fourth quarter.

Quarterback Russell Wilson completed 23 of 36 passes for 205 yards but never seemed on his game. Wilson couldn’t find the end zone except to throw a critical interception, stalling a promising drive. The Steelers’ ground game was equally ineffective, with running back Najee Harris managing only 32 yards on seven carries — his least productive game since Week 4 at Indianapolis.

Pittsburgh’s offense struggled on third downs, converting just one of nine attempts in the first half, and failed to capitalize on red zone opportunities, going 0-for-4.

The defense compensated for the offensive shortcomings by forcing three turnovers, including a pivotal fourth-quarter interception by rookie linebacker Payton Wilson.

The Steelers’ defensive resilience and Boswell’s clutch performance proved crucial in securing the win.

The victory allowed Pittsburgh to maintain its lead in the AFC North, but the offensive inefficiencies highlighted the need for significant improvements to sustain success for a tough seven-game stretch to close out the season.

Still, the Steelers extend their win streak to five games after defeating two legit playoff contenders in the Ravens and Washington Commanders.

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