Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson took advantage of his “pole position” to claim the starting spot, but with Justin Fields performing well in preseason games and practices, coach Mike Tomlin had to strategize about his options, and the race appears to be closer than expected.
Ultimately, Wilson makes sense for now. He has experience. He’s thrived on teams with strong defenses and good running games. Wilson doesn’t need to be the Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen he might have wanted to be in Denver. Playing within the broader fabric of a team that made the playoffs last year without consistent, competent quarterback play could help Wilson thrive again.
He doesn’t have to make big plays on a regular basis, just extend drives with good decisions and sure passes, like he did on a third-down 11-yarder in front of Lions fans who were as loud as they were in the playoffs in Detroit. He doesn’t have to do it all the time, just often enough that the Steelers end up finishing the game with more points than the other team.
As for opponents, the first half of the schedule gives Wilson a chance to earn the ability to continue as a starter late in the season. Three of the Steelers’ first six games are against AFC West opponents, making Wilson the safer and smarter choice, especially since the Broncos are a team Wilson knows better than Fields in Week 2. Also, with three primetime games between Week 5 and Week 8 (against the Cowboys, Jets and Giants), the Steelers enter their bye week with eight games played.
If they finish 3-5 or worse, the weekend off would be a chance to prepare Fields for the team’s final nine games, including six annual AFC North showdowns (starting Week 11). And if the Fields package (something the Steelers have used at times) is effective, Tomlin would have more reason to think a shift to a more agile Fields would make sense after Week 8.
Wilson has more potential. The games won’t be as exciting with Fields at quarterback, but the offense will be more stable with Wilson in the team. And the Steelers might finish 4-4 or better by halftime. That would leave Wilson in the running for the season-ending seven-game stretch of Baltimore, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Kansas City and Cincinnati.
Mike Tomlin has never had a losing season. He knows there will be hard times and he knows how to bounce back from them. In theory, Fields should be ready to go, even if the first half of the season has more struggles than successes.
If Wilson can take advantage of Pittsburgh’s defense and running game to lead the team to more wins than losses (or at least as many wins as losses) through eight games, Wilson will be in a good position to lead the team through a tough stretch of the schedule.
Fields may not be to your liking right now, but it’s a long season, and there’s a good chance he’ll get an opportunity for something more than spot duty or gadget play. The best-case scenario is that Wilson reverts to his pre-Denver days and uses his experience and remaining skills to carry the Steelers further than they’ve ever been since Ben Rothberger began to slow down. The worst-case scenario for Wilson could be the best-case scenario for Fields, and as of Week 10, it could be a great spur for Pittsburgh in their quest to stay .500 and storm into the AFC playoff party.
If Pittsburgh makes the postseason, whether it’s Wilson or Fields, they’ll be in the best position they’ve been in in years to advance past the wild-card round, and if they get their first playoff win since 2017, who knows what will happen next?
This season isn’t just a marathon. It’s a triathlon. The Steelers have two options to finish in the top seven out of 16 AFC teams. The safer, smarter choice is to give Wilson his first chance. If it doesn’t work out, there are far better options than Mason Rudolph or Mitchell Trubisky to turn things around at a time when each regular season game is adding to the intensity of the playoffs.
