While the Pittsburgh Steelers are 3-0 and riding high with backup-turned-starter QB Justin Fields, not everyone is sold that Fields is the best option for the team the rest of the season. With an offense still not scoring in bunches, former NFL RB LeSean McCoy thinks QB Russell Wilson would lead a more productive unit compared to Fields.
“I think when Russ comes back and he’s healthy with the calf, yeah, I think he put up more than 17 points a game,” McCoy said on FS1’s The Facility. “This is my opinion.”
Through three weeks, the Steelers are 24th in scoring offense at 17 points per game. They needed six Chris Boswell field goals for an 18-10 Week 1 victory while Pittsburgh managed only 13 points in a low-scoring slugfest against the Denver Broncos. There was improvement versus Los Angeles in the home opener, putting up 20 points in a rare two-possession Pittsburgh victory. Being able to sustain the Steelers’ success and more importantly, being able to win in the playoffs will require a higher average than what the team is producing.
But context is needed. Penalties wiped out big plays against Denver that would’ve led to a more comfortable win. A touchdown to WR George Pickens was taken off the board, forcing the team to settle for a field goal instead of a touchdown. A 51-yard completion deep into Broncos territory was also negated by a holding call. Against the Chargers, the Steelers knelt the ball on Los Angeles’ 1-yard line. A touchdown would’ve taken them to 27 points and boosted their seasonal average.
Still, McCoy thinks being able to add another touchdown per game would play complementary football to the Steelers’ defense and make the NFL’s best defense even better.
“If I have a quarterback that’s gonna gimme some more points right now, now we can rush the passer a little bit different,” he said. “I feel like T.J. Watt, so good. Best defensive player in the league, in my opinion. I can get more sacks. I think about everything right now where it’s like, ‘We gotta save the day.’ That’s a lot of pressure.”
Fields and the offense have made strides and he’ll continue to start as Wilson rehabs his calf. In basic stats alone, they didn’t score a touchdown in the opener, found the end zone once in Week 2, and scored twice in Week 3. Pittsburgh’s offense will try to keep building in Week 4 against an Indianapolis Colts defense allowing 20.3 points per game, though they’ve held their last two opponents to exactly 16 points.
