Russell Wilson and the Pittsburgh Steelers have seen a shocking amount of success against what were relatively low expectations from most outsiders coming into this season.
Wilson and the Steelers are 9-3 and in sole possession of first place in the AFC North. Still, there are quite a few people who would be more than happy if Wilson fell flat on his face rather than lead the Steelers to an NFL-leading seventh Super Bowl title.
Justin Fields
This one is pretty self-explanatory. Fields opened the season as the Steelers’ starter after Wilson went down with a calf injury the week leading up to the season’s first game. Fields performed admirably, leading Pittsburgh to a respectable 4-2 record.
Head coach Mike Tomlin installed Wilson as the starter again when he was fully healthy, but Fields has to be itching for Wilson to have a hiccup, so he can get another chance to prove to the league that he has what it takes to be a franchise quarterback.
Sean Payton
Sean Payton was Wilson’s last coach between his stints in Seattle and Pittsburgh, and the two seemed to clash the entire time. A video even went viral of Payton chewing Wilson out on the sidelines.
Why is Sean Payton yelling at Russell Wilson here? Russ was great on that drive. Payton is the one who didn’t throw challenge flag on what looked like a TD. pic.twitter.com/CN6nxb9xPR
— Andrew Perloff (@andrewperloff) December 17, 2023
Payton ended up benching Wilson, but all of his success in Pittsburgh has people wondering if things were actually Payton’s fault all along.
Richard Sherman
Sherman was a teammate of Wilson’s with the Seattle Seahawks and the pair even won a Super Bowl together. Unfortunately, they aren’t on exactly great terms these days.
Sherman has taken exception with Wilson not being held to the same standard as the rest of the Seahawks when they were teammates, and there’s no doubt he’s not in a rush to have to eat his words.
"He was not held to the same accountability as the rest of us"
—@KJ_WRIGHT34 and @RSherman_25 on how Russell Wilson received special treatment under Pete Carroll pic.twitter.com/9M2w9gYXww
— The Volume (@TheVolumeSports) September 21, 2022
It’ll be interesting to see if Russell can quench any doubts and silence the detractors.
