Pittsburgh Steelers QB Justin Fields got the start on Sunday in place of an injured Russell Wilson and led the Steelers to an 18-10 win. While it wasn’t always pretty, Fields avoided turnovers and used his legs effectively, running for 57 yards while adding 156 yards through the air. But Pittsburgh’s offense didn’t score a touchdown, relying on six Chris Boswell field goals, and former NFL wide receiver James Jones believes that Russell Wilson should take the starting job back when he’s healthy although he acknowledged that Fields did a good job avoiding issues that plagued him in Chicago.
“What made me proud is that Justin Fields did not turn the ball over and make some of those boneheaded plays that he made in Chicago. It’s okay to punt, it’s okay to let your defense go out there, and he did, and they won the game. But when you talk about winning a job, no, he did not win the job. When Russell Wilson is healthy, Russell Wilson should be the starter,” Jones said on The Facility on FS1.
Fields’ ability to use his legs is something that Wilson just can’t do at this point in his career, but Wilson is more accurate and has a better deep ball than Fields. Wilson was named the starter ahead of the season, and it’s tough to see Fields’ performance on Sunday doing enough to catapult him ahead of Wilson.
Mike Tomlin was non-commital on who will be the starter next week, and a lot of that depends on Wilson’s health. He was a game-time decision on Sunday before being ruled out, and while Fields did everything he was asked to do by not turning the ball over and using his legs well, he missed some throws he should’ve made, throws that Wilson probably would’ve made.
The Steelers also typically don’t take away jobs due to injury, so it would be a little bit of a change in precedent if Wilson was relegated to backup duty because of his calf injury. Nonetheless, given that the entire offseason was spent focusing on the quarterback room, it makes for an interesting decision. We’ll likely hear more from Tomlin on where he’s leaning with the decision tomorrow.
It was an improved showing from Fields from what we saw in Chicago simply because he was able to take care of the football. But the fact that Pittsburgh didn’t punch the ball into the end zone and only had two red zone trips, one which came off a turnover, doesn’t necessarily bode well for his chances to hang onto the job. I’d expect to see Wilson back under center when he’s healthy, but there’s a chance that might not be next week.
