Steelers Now
Payton Wilson watched Jordan Addison reel in a wide-open pass, but rather than hang his head, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ second-year inside linebacker chased down the Minnesota Vikings receiver and helped bleed off an extra minute of precious time on the waning clock.
Addison caught the ball at his team’s 47-yard line, facing quarterback Carson Wentz. He stumbled some at the Steelers’ 41 and peeked over his shoulder at Wilson at the 24. Wilson lunged at Addison near the 6, smacking his leg out from beneath him and stopping him short of the gold-painted end zone.
The high-effort stop was crucial in a 24-21 Steelers victory in Dublin.
“If you can defend another blade of grass … obviously they scored there, but we got them to fourth-and-2,” Wilson said afterward. “If we clean up one thing, we get off the field. At the end of the day, no matter how much field they have to go, we can get off the grass. We were that close.”
Addison wound up with an 81-yard pickup, setting the Vikings up at the Steelers’ 1. Patrick Queen stopped Jordan Mason for a 1-yard loss on first down, then Wentz couldn’t connect with Jalen Nailor on either of the following two plays. The two finally collaborated on fourth-and-goal, helping pull Minnesota within a field goal with 2:08 remaining.
Wilson credited his father for instilling in him a persistent attitude and approach.
“My father is a hard-working person. I watched him get up at 3 o’clock every day,” Wilson said. “He told me when I play the game, I need to play it the right way. I feel like hustling is a part of that. My father, he’s always been hard on me. One of the best dads in the world. He’s pushed me to limits that I didn’t even know I had.
NFL Next Gen Stats wrote on X that Wilson reached a top speed of 22.48 mph while tracking Addison down. That’s the fastest speed of any linebacker in the Next Gen Stats era, which began in 2016.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Payton Wilson Saves Steelers Win vs. Vikings With High-Effort Stop
