Payton Wilson celebrates after his interception in the Steelers' 27-20 win over the Colts at Acrisure Stadium.
If big players make big plays, then there's no Steeler who's been a bigger player than Payton Wilson over the past two weeks.
It's one thing to be the best player on a defense that gets shredded, as the Steelers did against the Packers. But, it's something else entirely to be the best player on the defense again when it shuts down the No. 1 offense in the league, which led to the team's 27-20 win over the Colts on Sunday afternoon at Acrisure Stadium.
Let's count up the stats, shall we? Wilson finished with a game-high 14 tackles, 10 of them solo, with two passes defensed and one interception. Just looking at the box score, that's an impressive game, even if the interception was a gift from Daniel Jones:
"Just threw it right to me," Wilson laughed after the game. "It was cool that I got one of those."
But it was even more impressive watching No. 41 fly to the ball on a consistent basis. Seriously, 14 tackles is being everywhere the ball goes, special teams included:
It's important to remember here that Wilson just took over as special teams captain last week, with Miles Killebrew sidelined for the remainder of the season.
But Wilson looked like a playmaker in this game. The highlight of the game for him wound up as Jack Sawyer's first career interception, but it doesn't happen without Wilson leaping in the air and batting a pass at the line of scrimmage:
I remember having a conversation with Wilson during training camp. I remember him speaking very highly of himself, much more than I expected. It was very different from the quiet, humble player I covered last season.
When I had a chance to ask him to evaluate his play over the past couple weeks, Wilson sounded like the confident guy I spoke with in Latrobe:
"I think I'm just really gaining confidence," Wilson said after the game. "Really trusting myself, trusting these guys, the trust they put in me. Obviously, like today, the trust (Teryl Austin) has in me to move me around a lot. It's been really cool. I think a lot of it's just been confidence. The player that you've seen for the last few weeks is the player that I am. I'm going to continue to improve and continue to get better."
It took Wilson a few games to get going, but he's now up to 71 tackles this season. That puts him on pace for 151, which would break James Farrior's franchise record of 141 set in 2003. That was in Farrior's second season as a Steeler.
And with Mike Tomlin's expectation for second-year players, we should be seeing Wilson take a big step forward.
"It's a reasonable expectation, a second-year player who played a lot last year, made some plays last year," Tomlin said after the game. "It's a natural progression when you've got a good relationship with the game, you work the way that he works and you have the talent that he has. I don't think anybody is surprised by the impact and the general trajectory of his game."
But, this version of Wilson, that's a whole lot more than just being encouraged by his trajectory. If this is the version of him that sticks, this is the type of player that cements himself in the middle of a defense for a long time.
THE ASYLUM
The Big Player: Wilson 'gaining confidence'
JOE SARGENT / GETTY
Payton Wilson celebrates after his interception in the Steelers' 27-20 win over the Colts at Acrisure Stadium.
If big players make big plays, then there's no Steeler who's been a bigger player than Payton Wilson over the past two weeks.
It's one thing to be the best player on a defense that gets shredded, as the Steelers did against the Packers. But, it's something else entirely to be the best player on the defense again when it shuts down the No. 1 offense in the league, which led to the team's 27-20 win over the Colts on Sunday afternoon at Acrisure Stadium.
Let's count up the stats, shall we? Wilson finished with a game-high 14 tackles, 10 of them solo, with two passes defensed and one interception. Just looking at the box score, that's an impressive game, even if the interception was a gift from Daniel Jones:
"Just threw it right to me," Wilson laughed after the game. "It was cool that I got one of those."
But it was even more impressive watching No. 41 fly to the ball on a consistent basis. Seriously, 14 tackles is being everywhere the ball goes, special teams included:
It's important to remember here that Wilson just took over as special teams captain last week, with Miles Killebrew sidelined for the remainder of the season.
But Wilson looked like a playmaker in this game. The highlight of the game for him wound up as Jack Sawyer's first career interception, but it doesn't happen without Wilson leaping in the air and batting a pass at the line of scrimmage:
I remember having a conversation with Wilson during training camp. I remember him speaking very highly of himself, much more than I expected. It was very different from the quiet, humble player I covered last season.
When I had a chance to ask him to evaluate his play over the past couple weeks, Wilson sounded like the confident guy I spoke with in Latrobe:
"I think I'm just really gaining confidence," Wilson said after the game. "Really trusting myself, trusting these guys, the trust they put in me. Obviously, like today, the trust (Teryl Austin) has in me to move me around a lot. It's been really cool. I think a lot of it's just been confidence. The player that you've seen for the last few weeks is the player that I am. I'm going to continue to improve and continue to get better."
It took Wilson a few games to get going, but he's now up to 71 tackles this season. That puts him on pace for 151, which would break James Farrior's franchise record of 141 set in 2003. That was in Farrior's second season as a Steeler.
And with Mike Tomlin's expectation for second-year players, we should be seeing Wilson take a big step forward.
"It's a reasonable expectation, a second-year player who played a lot last year, made some plays last year," Tomlin said after the game. "It's a natural progression when you've got a good relationship with the game, you work the way that he works and you have the talent that he has. I don't think anybody is surprised by the impact and the general trajectory of his game."
But, this version of Wilson, that's a whole lot more than just being encouraged by his trajectory. If this is the version of him that sticks, this is the type of player that cements himself in the middle of a defense for a long time.
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