NFL News: Russell Wilson gets a major admission from a key weapon on Mike Tomlin's Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers of head coach Mike Tomlin are going through key hours to define their future. Ahead of an intense matchup against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 16 of the 2024 NFL season, a teammate of Russell Wilson made a strong self-criticism for a mistake made in last week’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

The interruption of a consecutive winning streak can set off certain alarms, especially if there are two divisional matches and a game against the Kansas City Chiefs on the horizon. That’s why, at such important moments, mistakes and turnovers, such as the one the Steelers committed against the Eagles, can generate echoes that last for days.

Tomlin has expressed on more than one occasion that he trusts his team. That’s due, in part, to traits such as sincerity. In the case of running back Najee Harris, a genuine statement of self-criticism exonerated teammate Russell Wilson of a major mistake in the loss to Philadelphia.

The stats from Sunday’s game between Pittsburgh and the Eagles show that the Steelers committed a fumble by Wilson. However, in the game it didn’t look that way, as it was Harris who dropped the lateral pass and failed to pick it up. The play ended a promising series for Tomlin’s team.

Najee Harris of the Steelers

What was Harris’ confession to Wilson about the fumble?

“The Steelers loose ball was my fault, it shouldn’t show up on Russ (Wilson’s) stats. You should always be your biggest critic, no matter what they say, you’re always going to be your biggest critic. So the stat sheet may say that, but nobody believes it. That was all my fault. I don’t know why they put that on Russ, but it was my fault. Doing better next time is the best thing you can do,” Harris emphatically confessed, clearing Wilson of the fumble.

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Why do the statistics show that the error was Wilson’s?

The official NFL record states that any time a team loses the ball by mishandling an exchange behind the line of scrimmage, the blame for the fumble is assigned to the last player in possession of the ball, which in this case was Wilson. On the play in the Steelers-Eagles game, Harris never actually handled the ball with his hands when he dropped the lateral.

Wilson sends warning before game vs Ravens

Russell Wilson knows that next Sunday’s game against the Ravens will be pivotal in defining which playoff spot Tomlin’s Steelers will play in. “We don’t have time to even think about last week. I think the most important thing coming out of it though is that we’ve got to get ourselves the best chance to win. We’re going to have to play our best football,” warned the Pittsburgh franchise quarterback.