Ripping Russell Wilson’s HeroBall, Broncos Legend Calls Mike Tomlin Steelers QB’s Fan for Blaming O-Line

Russell Wilson’s performance against the Buffalo Bills has forced Mark Schlereth’s hand to go on a tangent. His “Quirky” personality and his “toxic positivity” are the least of this ex-Broncos O-Lineman concerns right now. After the Steelers O-Line was thrown under the bus following 9-3 loss to the Bills, Mark Schlereth couldn’t stand by and watch fans praise the veteran QB.

The former lineman thinks that Russ wants to play hero ball, something that he was accused of during his tenure with the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks. But is it the truth? Mike Tomlin and the Steelers fans, per Schlereth, are on the same page “We’ve got to do a better job of protecting [Wilson].” But Wilson’s “empty, hollow statistics” scream otherwise.

“The ‘Russties’ will sit there and say, ‘Oh he completed 80% of his pass, I think it was 8 of 10 for 47 yards and so the empty, hollow statistics that he compiles that makes people that don’t know jack about football think that he can play is incredible, right. They’ll plant their flag in 8 for 10, 80%, ‘Bam! Look at Russell Wilson and then they’d say things like this, like Mike Tomlin said, ‘We’ve got to do a better job of protecting [Wilson].’’Oui,’ what are you guys, a French waiter?” said a fuming Schlereth on The Stinkin Truth Podcast with Mark Schlereth.

Broderick Jones (tackle) is getting a fair share of criticism as he was the one responsible for two of seven sacks that Wilson and Fields took. But there’s a story behind that. Last year, Jones was playing on the right, ditching his natural left spot. Troy Fautanu joining the O-Line this year meant that Jones could return to the left spot, but Fautanu (tackle) suffered a knee injury and that for Jones, that meant he had to return to playing right tackle.

Also, besides Jones, the rookies Fautanu, Zach Frazier, and Mason McCormick aren’t deemed experienced enough to deal with strong NFL blitzes. In the game against the Texans, Troy Fautanu allowed a sack on Justin Fields and Mike Tomlin didn’t look very enthusiastic about it. But you can’t clap with one hand and both sides, the QB and the O-Lineman have their fair share of criticism to take.

In the preseason game against the Texans, the C-Q exchange that led to Fields’ fumble became the talk of the town. Then it happened again on a different play. So, the O-Line misfiring isn’t something new. In the game against the Bills, there were moments when it felt like the O-Line was not competitive and Russ bore the brunt of it.

Mike Tomlin came out in the presser and indicated that he had a chat with the offensive line saying, “We didn’t do a good enough job of protecting the quarterback. We’ve got to do a better job in pass protection than we did, not only on possession downs but just in general. I was really upfront with the group about it in that regard. That can’t be a problem for us.”

So, who’s word do we take? The head coach or the former 3x Super Bowl O-Lineman? He pointed out a few things about Wilson that might not sit well with the “Russties.”

Is Russell Wilson trying to do too much?

Wilson going 8 for 10 over 47 yards with no touchdown isn’t an impressive tale to tell. Especially since it was his debut, and he didn’t deliver. Short passes, holding on to the ball for too long and, not reading into defenses, were the same old habits that screamed of his Denver tenure. Some believe that it’s because Russ isn’t taking so many reps in training. Moreover, Wilson took 3 sacks and came out with a passer rating of 86.2.

“Russell Wilson has got to do a better job of understanding football and throwing the football to open receivers as opposed to pulling the football and taking sack after sack after sack,” said Schlereth. “I mean when you watch the play, they got little option routes that are wide open that he’s [Wilson] looking at, ‘that’s not quite good enough, let me pull the ball and be a hero.”

Also, Wilson didn’t throw the ball in the middle too much, even when there were openings. A look at the highlights enough to tell that Wilson was throwing checkdown passes and playing dink and dunk football. But it wasn’t as bad as Schlereth deems it to be. Wilson did have short range accuracy and got the ball out quick. However, there was a blitz coming at him at 10:25 remaining in the first quarter and Wilson just ran into it. It was weird and unbecoming of a veteran QB.

One of the problems is that Steelers also have one of the youngest offenses in the league, which might not match up with Wilson’s experience and what he’s trying to do. Wilson getting rid of the ball quicker is an improvement, but settling himself in the Steelers might still be a challenge. In his last two years with the Denver Broncos, Wilson took 100 sacks! Can he overcome those mistakes with the slate wiped clean?