Pittsburgh Steelers second-year linebacker Payton Wilson is on pace to break the Steelers' single-season tackles record. Wilson's 8.4 tackles per game would total 142.8, which would top James Farrior's 141 from 2003.
Wilson got off to a slow start this season, but he's bounced back in a major way. He had a standout performance in the Steelers' Week 9 win over the Indianapolis Colts . Wilson picked off one pass and tipped another into Jack Sawyer 's embrace during the Steelers' upset over the Colts.
Wilson also had a game-high 14 stops on the day, playing a large part in tracking down and limiting Jonathan Taylor , who entered as the NFL's leading rusher. T.J. Watt described Wilson as "a hard-working guy who's the 'first in, last out' type of guy." Much like the star outside linebacker, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin wasn't taken aback by what he saw out of Wilson.
"It's a reasonable expectation, a second-year player who played a lot last year, made some plays last year," Tomlin said. "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."
Fellow inside linebacker Patrick Queen was impressed by his partner-in-crime's breakout performance.
"When he plays like that, he gets the whole team going," Queen said. "He was just a fucking animal today. … I'm so hype for him. Every single time I see him make a play, bro, I get excited."
Wilson's turnaround to the season came to the forefront when he made a crucial high-effort tackle in the Steelers' Week 4 win over the Minnesota Vikings .
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 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 a huge play 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."
Brenden Howe contributed reporting for this story.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Steelers LB on Pace to Break Franchise Record
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