After two tough losses in Weeks 4 and 5, the Pittsburgh Steelers got back on track Sunday in Week 6 against the Las Vegas Raiders, leading to a 32-13 win. All three phases played well, leading to a complete team victory.
In the win over the Raiders, quarterback Justin Fields showed off his dynamic running abilities, rushing for 59 yards and two touchdowns on 11 attempts, helping the Steelers have answers in the red zone.
But despite the rushing abilities that gave the Raiders fits, Fields struggled as a passer, completing just 14-of-24 passes for 145 yard. He had one touchdown dropped by George Pickens and had one interception negated by penalty.
While the Steelers won and had a season-high in points, the question remains: is it Russell Wilson time for the Black and Gold? Steelers Depot’s own Ross McCorkle believes it’s time. But Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer says it should remain Fields due to the fourth-year QB having a higher “baseline” than Wilson, which is a belief that many in Pittsburgh reportedly have.
“The truth is the Russell Wilson saga has dragged on long enough. Fields has had the support of that building for a long time. The baseline for Fields, most in Pittsburgh believe, is higher than it is for Wilson,” Breer writes. “There’s also a lot more upside with Fields. You saw all of it Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders.”
There is a lot more upside there with Fields, without a doubt. He’s a dynamic athlete, one who is running the football well and gives Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith another wrinkle in the run game, which has helped the Steelers get to 4-2 to this point.
While he has some ups and downs as a passer, for the most part Fields is doing what is asked of him: avoiding the mistakes and keeping the offense on track, not hurting the team in the process.
On Sunday against the Raiders, Fields missed some throws that were there. His accuracy was inconsistent in the win. He made some good plays on the run and had some nice completions outside of the pocket. He even did a nice job within the pocket, moving around, reading the field and making some good throws. It was too inconsistent, though, and the lack of a threatening passing game marked the second week in a row that occurred.
While the Steelers ran for 183 yards on 35 carries, they’re going to need the passing game to get going again. Maybe that’s where Wilson is the answer for the Steelers.
But right now, based on how the offense looks — especially in the run game – and coupled with the fact that the Steelers are 4-2, it’ll be hard for Mike Tomlin to make a change, both for the immediate future and the long-term future.
“Putting Wilson in at this point would just be to prove to yourself he doesn’t have any of his magic of the mid-2010s left, something that’s already seemed to show itself both in the end in Seattle and over his two years in Denver,” Breer writes. “Yes, in that case, you essentially give yourself two cracks at getting the quarterback position right. But you’d also risk dropping games in a year when you can’t really afford to.
“This also, either way, isn’t about the next 10 years. It’s about the next couple of months. But in either of those cases, the choice would be the same. It’d be Fields. And a lot of people who work in that building, given some truth serum, would agree with me on that.”
The Steelers signed Wilson in free agency in an effort to stabilize the quarterback position and to see if he had anything left. The Steelers very clearly believed he did considering the fact that they pursued him.
Without the calf injury suffered before the start of training camp, and then aggravated two days before the season opener, Wilson is the starting quarterback. Who knows how he’d have performed in comparison to Fields, but that’s irrelevant at this point.
He was not healthy, Fields was, and Fields has played well, leading the Steelers to the 4-2 mark. There’s a chance, though, that Tomlin wants to give Wilson a shot and see what he has in the veteran, just to know for certain one way or the other. There are some interesting decisions ahead at QB. We’ll see what Tomlin does.
