The Russell Wilson era officially began for the Steelers last week against the Jets, validating Mike Tomlin’s faith in the veteran QB. Wilson showed flashes of his Seattle days, making big plays that had been absent under Justin Fields.
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As Pittsburgh faces Daniel Jones and the Giants on Monday Night Football, fans are eager to see if Wilson’s performance against the Jets was a fluke or a sign of things to come. Jon Gruden thinks it’s the latter, as he praised the Super Bowl-winning QB’s ability to reinvent himself and picked him to win the matchup tonight.
Gruden was back with another engaging episode of Gruden’s Pick, picking between the Steelers and the Giants:g
“QB Russell Wilson, I think is in the process of reinventing himself. Russell Wilson brings this element of mystery and excitement to the Steelers that they haven’t had in the last few years. What he brings is the vertical passing game. He has an excellent play-action sting under the Center. He makes his teammates better.”
The former Raiders HC highlighted that Wilson is a better pocket passer than Fields, who showed last week that he can still sling the ball down the field.
According to Gruden, if he manages to do it again, it will open up the running game too. Russ, Gruden believes, is improving as he focuses on “reinventing” himself in the heydays of his career.
Russ brings that special element to the offense that has been missing for the past few years. His vertical passing game has been the best in the NFL in the last 12 years, throwing the ball down the field 172 times, completing 62 of them for over 3000 yards. He has elevated that offense, bringing confidence to the team.
While Wilson’s era in Pittsburgh takes off, Daniel Jones’s era in New York is about to be over as the offense looks stagnant.
Giants continue to suffer offensively with Jones
The Giants’ offense is struggling again despite a few promising performances from Daniel Jones earlier this season. They’re now languishing at the bottom of nearly every offensive category, averaging just 14 points per game. Jon Gruden pointed out that not only have big plays been scarce, but the offensive line has also been a significant weakness, allowing eight sacks against the Eagles.
The run game has been virtually non-existent, which Gruden attributes to the poor pass protection and lack of explosive plays from Jones. However, the former Raiders coach believes the Giants’ QB has been working with numerous limitations—a weak offensive line, no run support, and a star receiver who’s missed games.
“When it comes to explosive plays, there has been no explosion for this Giants offense. That’s not good enough. The Giants offensive line for the last year and half got to pick it up. We got to have vicious pass protection offensive mentality. Daniel Jones has got great character, he’s got great physical talent, he’s smart. But on lot of plays, he’s got no chance. Nobody’s open and there is no protection. It’s sickening.”
Gruden noted that Jones has strong, tangible qualities he could leverage to create plays. With his athleticism, Jones should use his mobility to gain yardage when possible. Gruden emphasized the importance of quick decisions: Jones needs to get the ball out fast, complete a series of passes, make short throws, and keep the chains moving down the field.
It will take a lot for this Giants offense to turn things around this week against the Steelers’ defense which ranks at the top of every metric and has been performing at a very high level. With Wilson at QB making plays, and offense starting to tick, Pittsburgh will get an easy win tonight.
