Sifting through the aftermath of the team's 28-14 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Saturday's AFC Super Wild Card game at M&T Bank Stadium, Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson knows the Steelers came up short of their goals for the 2024 season.
Wilson, signed in the offseason to a one-year deal, is one of three quarterbacks the Steelers added last offseason as they completely made over their quarterback room, joining Justin Fields and Kyle Allen on the roster in an effort to better help the team compete this season.
The team fell short of that goal.
But with the season now complete, the 13-year veteran knows where he wants to be in 2025 and beyond.
"I just love the guys. I love the locker room. I love Coach (Mike) Tomlin. Love who he is," Wilson said Monday as the Steelers held their last team meetings of the 2024 season.
"I think that this place is a place that I think can win a lot and all that stuff, too. And I think we have a championship-caliber football team. It didn't go the way we wanted to this year. But I I love playing football. I love playing the game. And if it works out that way, I'll be excited to do that and put the black and gold on again."
Wilson, who turned 36 in November, missed the first six games of the season with a calf injury, but returned to start the final 11 games and in the postseason. Fields started the first six games of the season, helping the Steelers to a 4-2 record.
The Steelers won six of Wilson's first nine starts to get to 10-3 before stumbling down the stretch to finish the regular season at 10-7.
Wilson finished the season with 2,482 passing yards with 16 touchdowns and 5 interceptions in his 11 starts. He also ran for two scores and posted a 95.6 passer rating.
"I thought I played well," Wilson said. "There's moments I wish I played a little bit better. You know, I feel two plays that I wish I had back, to be honest with you; the one in Kansas City and the one in the Ravens game, just kind of put the ball inside. Other than that, those two plays in particular, I competed. I gave it my all."
Those two plays in particular, a pair of interceptions in losses to Baltimore and Kansas City, stand out, but so do many of the touchdown passes he threw this season, especially for a team that had thrown just 12 and 13 in the entire season in 2022 and 2023.
Wilson's ability to execute deep passes on a regular basis unlocked some elements of the Steelers offense that had been missing the past couple of years. George Pickens and Calvin Austin both averaged more than 15 yards per reception, while Mike Williams, acquired in a midseason trade with the Jets, averaged 14.7 yards per catch.
Building upon that while also adding to the group will be the next plan.
"I just think that we got to recalibrate and get sharper on a couple things here and there, and continue to grow, continue to evolve," Wilson said. "Think we're young, especially on offense, we'll continue to grow. But I just think that we weren't able to finish, and we obviously didn't start good enough in games. I think that always helps us when you get ahead a little bit early. So we got to figure that part out."
The Steelers did not score a touchdown on their opening possession of the game all season, kicking six field goals. But they did move the ball effectively and score on their opening possessions of the second half, scoring four touchdowns and five field goals to open the third quarter.
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Included in those second-half scoring plays was a 98-yard touchdown drive to open the second half against the Ravens. Wilson threw for 270 yards and two touchdowns without an interception in the game.
"I thought how we were super-aggressive and guys making plays and all that stuff in the second half," Wilson said of the second half against the Ravens. "We did a really good job of that. You know, we didn't waver in our mentality. I thought that we didn't give in. And, you know a lot of people do, to be honest with you. I don't think we did.
"That's, that's the testament of who we are. I think that at the end of the day, though, it's how do we execute early and all that? And I think that we went, I don't know, 17, 18, games without doing that. So I think that's something that moving forward, you always want to be able to do. It doesn't define the game. It doesn't. But it also definitely helps the game."
