The Pittsburgh Steelers are at a crossroads in their season for multiple reasons. For one, they are at risk of falling to .500 after a 3-0 start. With the backloaded schedule after the bye week, they need a buffer to compete down the stretch. But the quarterback situation is also at a critical point. Russell Wilson is finally healthy and working in full at practice. Could the time be now to switch back to Wilson, who is still listed as QB1 on the depth chart?
FS1’s Emmanuel Acho has recently changed his tune. He was fully on board to continue with Justin Fields, but the recent losses have changed his mind.
“Don’t ever go against the vibe. If you’re playing blackjack, don’t ever bet opposite,” Acho said of his previous line of thinking via FS1’s The Facility this morning. “If you win, press. Don’t lower your bet when you win, that makes no sense. Don’t change your quarterback when you win that don’t make no sense. I asked myself, am I sure Russ could play better?
“Now I’m asking myself, am I sure Russ could play worse?”
That is a pretty big shift in thinking. It is a question of the floor and ceilings that both players can provide. Fields very clearly has the better long-term upside. He also provides more with his legs and his high-end of play is probably just as good as Wilson’s. The issue is that his consistency is nowhere near where it needs to be. The Steelers have been completely anemic on offense in the first half of pretty much every game this season. There is blame to go around, but Fields shares in that as the quarterback.
Many have stated that the quarterback isn’t the issue, that replacing Fields wouldn’t fix anything. In a hypothetical scenario where the Steelers could insert Patrick Mahomes as the starting quarterback, does that mean people think he wouldn’t elevate the unit and make it better than it currently is? I would argue that is not true, which means the quarterback obviously does have an influence on how things play out on offense. Some of that doesn’t show up on tape as easily but going through progressions or making checks at the line of scrimmage pre-snap are two examples of ways that a more veteran player could help.
“The defense forced three turnovers, and they blocked the field goal,” Acho said of the Steelers’ loss to the Cowboys last Sunday. “Now I’m like, ‘Acho, are you sure?’ Am I sure Russ could play worse?”
When you win the turnover battle 3-0, and block a field goal, it is pretty difficult to lose a game. It is even more difficult to put up just 17 points. The Cowboys technically had a turnover, but it came on a last-ditch lateral play.
Mike Tomlin said Wilson is running with the second-team offense as the Steelers prepare Fields for another start. But he also left the door ajar for Wilson to suit up as an active on game day. That would mean Fields is one bad play from being pulled for Wilson, and one more mediocre game from losing the starting job altogether.
For the record, I don’t think Fields has been bad as Acho seems to suggest. He just hasn’t been consistently good enough to elevate the Steelers to the level they are trying to get to right now. They want to win playoff games. Fields can do that, but he could also show his inconsistency and just as easily lose games for them. Wilson is a more proven commodity with a higher floor of play. With the way this team is built, that could be enough to make a huge difference.
