It appears that Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers are opting to prepare for Week 6 with QB Justin Fields as their starter once again. It only makes sense to go with the sure thing of Fields, given that they still have to evaluate how Russell Wilson’s body responds to his first full practices in over a month. But if Wilson responds well, and he is active for the game instead of being the emergency No. 3, how long of a leash will Fields have if the offense struggles?
“I would say pretty short. Thirteen points in the first quarters of the first five games this season,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Steelers insider Ray Fittipaldo said Wednesday on 93.7 The Fan’s Morning Show. “Before that last week they were 28th in first quarter scoring. I would imagine they’re somewhere between 29th and last. It’s been a big problem for this football team. I know it’s not all Justin Fields’ fault, but you can’t switch out all five offensive linemen. You can’t go out and sign a receiver to help right now. I think the logical thing to do would be to go to Russell Wilson.”
Tomlin has been strategically ambiguous when it comes to the quarterback situation. He left himself plenty of latitude to make whatever decision he deems necessary. Fields has been preparing as the starter because he is healthy, but on the other hand, Wilson was named the starting quarterback before the season, was voted a team captain, and remains QB1 on the depth chart.
Installs happen during Wednesday’s practice. With Wilson running with the second-team offense, it seems like a certainty that Fields will get the start Sunday in Las Vegas, but what happens from there is anybody’s guess. If Fields manages just three points in the first half like he did last week, that could open the door for Wilson to enter the game after halftime.
Once you put Wilson in, you are more or less committing to him for the long haul. The Steelers can always go back to Fields, but once they have benched Wilson in that fashion, I have a hard time seeing them flipping back and forth once again. They have to get this decision right.
“Justin’s gonna get a fair shot,” Fittipaldo said. “He’s got a chance to go out there, make a sixth consecutive start, but I do think with Russell being fully cleared now that we are at a point where, if Justin does struggle, this change could happen at any time.”
If Wilson does become the starter, we could definitely still see some Fields packages mixed in. And I think Fields has done enough to warrant serious consideration to be the Steelers’ quarterback in 2025 as well. But the core of this Steelers team is aging, and the urgency to win in the playoffs is very apparent. They brought Wilson in to get them over that hump, so it only makes sense that they would like to see what the offense looks like with him in the game at some point.
Fields may be playing mostly mistake-free football, which is a big improvement over the first three seasons of his NFL career, but he isn’t producing the necessary results. The Steelers currently have the seventh-worst scoring offense in the league with 18.4 points per game.
