Steelers' Russell Wilson Is Not Worried About Terrible Red Zone Performance

Even though the Pittsburgh Steelers managed to defeat the Baltimore Ravens and set themselves up nicely for the rest of the season, they did not make it easy on themselves. There are still plenty of concerns surrounding the team, especially the offense. Just because they started the divisional gauntlet with a win does not mean that everything is okay. If they want to win the AFC North and potentially go even further than that, they have to clean up their red zone efficiency, and quickly. If not, these last two months will be even tougher than it is on paper.

During his post-practice interview, quarterback Russell Wilson was asked about the issues that he had in the red zone. He doesn't seem to be too phased by their latest performance.

"I think the biggest thing is consistency down there. We've done some good things. You can't let one game -- I've told you guys this before -- every game has a history of its own. I think that you focus on trying to be a little bit crisper, making a couple plays. Obviously, the week before, we made some really great plays in the red zone, [scored] some touchdowns down there."

Even though the Steelers' offense has been much better and more consistent as of late, the red zone efficiency has been very hit or miss for them. In their win against the Ravens, the Steelers had three field goals and an interception in their four trips inside the 20-yard line. Nine points on four attempts is unacceptable. 

Head Coach Mike Tomlin took Chris Boswell's amazing day and used it as a challenge to the offense, pushing them to score on their own and not solely rely on their elite kicker. Boswell has plenty of Special Teams Player of the Week Awards already. The offense needs to improve inside the 20 if they want to go back to putting up 30-burgers.

Even though the Steelers had an effective red zone offense in Week 10 against the Washington Commanders, there is still some cause for concern. They have only scored three touchdowns over their last 12 red zone attempts. Wilson was supposed to be the upgrade at quarterback to help the Steelers score touchdowns over field goals, and it has not worked as of late.

Throughout the previous 22 games, Wilson had thrown at least one touchdown pass in each contest. That was the longest active streak in the NFL, but after relying on Boswell in Week 11, that streak has officially ended. The Steelers were expecting that number to only increase throughout the season, but the same story keeps popping up for them, and Wilson found out about it first-hand.

Steelers Have Answer To Red Zone Woes On The Team

While 50% is still not a good number, Justin Fields has been better in the red zone than Wilson during the 2024 season. The main reason for that is his ability to run with the football, as well as pass. That extra threat makes it harder on defenses to shut down every scoring option on the offense. 

Fields got his first snaps as a gadget quarterback against the Ravens. As the Steelers look to potentially use his skill set more often, they will have to look at him as a red zone option. They can still use their full goal line playbook with Fields, as opposed to the few plays they have for his specific packages. 

Fields has 10 total touchdowns over his six starts: five rushing and five passing. While Wilson likes using the moon ball, Fields is better with the line drive passes. He could be effective with any kind of option play. Read options have done well as expected, but he could still do a run-pass option with a slant over the middle to score. They have plenty of options with Fields, and they need to utilize him more.

What do you think about Wilson not panicking about his struggles in the red zone? Let us know in the comments.

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