Is Justin Fields close to cementing himself as the Steelers’ starting quarterback over Russell Wilson?
Justin Fields won back-to-back games for just the fourth time in his career in his first two games with the Steelers, starting for the injured Russell Wilson. But are we nearing the point of dropping the “for the injured Russell Wilson” and leaving it at “starting”?
Yes, the Steelers have scored a whopping 31 points in two games, and they have one touchdown. As we all expected in April, a Justin Fields pass to Darnell Washington accounted for the first of the year. But if you really just watch the tape, I think most will come away more impressed than the stat sheet suggests.
The fact of the matter is the Steelers have shown they can win with Justin Fields. Granted, it’s a very small sample size, and the quality of opponent is not great. They were both games on the road, however, while breaking in a new offense.
And let’s be honest, the penalties have been brutal on this offense, already costing Fields one touchdown. We haven’t seen what Fields can do running the Steelers’ offense when it’s actually, you know, humming. These are the ugly, early stages, and he is really the least of their worries.
But at the same time, we haven’t even had the opportunity to see Russell Wilson run the show. For all we know, the Steelers would look degrees better with Wilson over Fields. For one thing, he would probably manage to spread the ball around more. And Fields did not look very good in the second half yesterday. He hasn’t turned the ball over yet, but he had a turnover-worthy pass and botched center exchanges remain an ongoing issue.
Let’s say Russell Wilson misses one more game and Justin Fields leads the Steelers to a commanding win. He throws for 275 yards with two passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown, rushes for 60 yards, and protects the football. No serious mistakes. Does Mike Tomlin announce Fields is the starter on the next depth chart?
The Steelers’ 2024 season is underway, following another disappointing year ending in a first-round playoff loss. They have had a long offseason since the Buffalo Bills stamped them out of their misery back in January. There are positive signs, but things could jump off the rails any moment.
The biggest question hanging over the team is the quarterback question. Will Russell Wilson regain his job when he is healthy, or is Justin Fields stealing it? How will the team continue to address the depth chart, which is surprisingly still in flux?
The regular season is here, following weeks of camp and preseason games. The Steelers made numerous moves through signings and trade—and release. More than usual, they seemed comfortable creating holes, confident they can fill them. Some they managed to fill, others not so much. Now that we have so many pieces of the puzzle, however, we merely have a new set of questions to ask.
