Behind the Steel Curtain
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Payton Wilson made one of the plays of the season in the Steelers’ 24-21 win over the Minnesota Vikings. After a blown coverage left wide receiver Jordan Addison wide open, it looked as if he would take the pass all the way to the end zone. Unfortunately for Addison and the Vikings, Payton Wilson had other ideas.
The speedy second-year linebacker chased down Addison, tripping him up at the one-yard line to prevent a touchdown. While the Vikings would score a few plays later, the tackle killed time off the clock and possibly saved the game for the Steelers.
Next Gen Stats highlighted the play on X, noting that Wilson reached an astounding 22.48 miles per hour, which is the fastest any linebacker has reached in the Next Gen era (2016).
The play by Wilson was one of the best by a Steelers defender, not just in recent history, but in history, period. If the Vikings have that extra 61 seconds of clock to work with, perhaps the end result looks different.
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