Tim Benz: If Steelers keep Russell Wilson, here's how they will optimistically spin it

Whether it’s been through columns I’ve posted at “Breakfast With Benz,” our podcasts or when I’ve been on the radio in recent months, you’ve heard me mention the “Snow Globe Theory” regarding the 2024 Pittsburgh Steelers.

The theory is that if I shook up the season’s 18 results and just had them land in a different sequence, like flakes in a snow globe, you might have a different view of how the season went.

As things turned out in reality, you essentially had three different seasons in one last year for the Steelers. We saw the encouraging early survival of going 4-2 with Justin Fields at quarterback, followed by the sudden ascent of the offense and a 6-1 run once Russell Wilson took over. Then we witnessed that horrific five-game collapse to end the year when the Steelers played four of those games against playoff opponents.

Had all 18 results — or even just the last 12 after Wilson took over — happened in exactly the same way, but in a slightly different order, maybe we’d have a different opinion on who the 2024 Steelers were.

Entering the offseason on a five-game nosedive against any teams who are worth a darn makes the fanbase feel like the team is a dumpster fire.

However, what if I told you back in August that the Steelers would finish 10-7 and end up in second place in the AFC North after splitting with the Ravens? What if I said they’d lose at Baltimore in the first round of the playoffs, and they’d go 4-4 against playoff teams along the way?

You would’ve believed every word of that. Given how the preseason ended with the offensive line injuries, Wilson’s calf issue, and the failure to replace Dionate Johnson, you would’ve gladly taken it.

Of course, that’s without the context of how bad they looked in comparison to top teams and the fact that they survived through the early season injuries and absolutely melted late in discouraging fashion.

In a sad way, that’s an unfortunate commentary on what we have grown to expect and accept from the Steelers over the past eight years. But here we are.

And if the franchise does come back with Wilson as the quarterback — which does remain possible despite his free-agent status — you can expect that exact spin for the Steelers as to why that’s a good thing for the franchise.

They may not steal my “Snow Globe Theory” line (I should get that trademarked while I can), but that’s essentially the explanation that they’ll give.

More sports

• First Call: Trevor Lawrence would've been against a trade to Pittsburgh; Tee Higgins contract update
• Pitt's Jeff Capel understands Miami victory only counts 1, and there's more work to do
• Receptive to right field, Pirates All-Star Bryan Reynolds wants to dispel defensive doubts

The Steelers brass will tacitly blame the schedule makers for the jam-packed degree of difficulty of the back half of the schedule. Come to think of it, Art Rooney II already referred to the end of the season as the “Christmas Tournament.”

They’ll point out how good Wilson and the offense were in the middle of the season, and if the same results of the campaign were spread out differently, no one would be second-guessing giving Wilson a short, multi-year deal in hopes of improving on 10-7.

They’ll tamp down the failures of December and January by suggesting that retaining Wilson is at least a way to be in a position to make a run from a wild-card slot. They may even go so far as to suggest that they would’ve been better than 4-2 to start the year if Wilson had been at QB instead of Fields.

All that, of course, is if Fields isn’t kept and Wilson is. Maybe they’ll both leave for greener pastures in free agency. Although, the other quarterback-starved teams besides the Steelers all reside in brownfields worse than Pittsburgh’s these days.

Sure, it’s bleak here right now. It looks even worse in Cleveland, New Orleans, Tennessee and both New York destinations.

It’s entirely possible Wilson will be back with the Steelers at Saint Vincent College in August. Playing the “what if game” with last year’s schedule would make it easier to believe that the club won’t be any worse in 2025.

It also would generate zero reasons to believe the Steelers will be any better than what they were in totality for 2024.

As it is, if you are spending a lot of time trying to wish that hope into existence, you might be better served shaking up a Magic 8 Ball than a snow globe.

“Outlook … not so good.”