The Pittsburgh Steelers are starting Russell Wilson at quarterback tonight against the New York Jets, and it’s a decision that Mike Tomlin made alone. On FOX NFL Sunday, insider Jay Glazer said he talked to Tomlin, who told him he went “lone ranger” on the decision to start Wilson, and he’ll take the blame if it doesn’t work out.
“He said, look, I went lone ranger on it,” said Glazer. “If it doesn’t work out, I’ll take the heat. I’ll shoulder the blame.”
Glazer added that a lot of people within Pittsburgh’s organization wanted to stick with Fields, but Tomlin said the goal is to win a Super Bowl, and he wants to “exhaust all options” at the quarterback position to see what the Steelers have.
“I wanna at least see what I have from him, exhaust all options, and then make a decision down the stretch. He said I’m not trying to win games. I’m trying to win a world title here. I gotta see what I have in both.”
It’s not all that surprising that Mike Tomlin decided on his own. It sounded as if offensive coordinator Arthur Smith would’ve been happy starting Justin Fields, and there was reportedly support for Fields in Pittsburgh’s building. However, the original intention when the Steelers signed Wilson was for him to start, and he was supposed to be the starter ahead of Week 1 before he re-aggravated his calf injury.
Understandably, Mike Tomlin wants to see if Wilson can potentially take this offense to the next level and, as someone who’s won a Super Bowl before, guide the Steelers to their seventh Lombardi Trophy. The Steelers have struggled with slow starts again this season, and their passing offense hasn’t been anything special. While Fields uses his legs well and provides more mobility at quarterback, Wilson’s arm could be an upgrade for the Steelers.
But given Pittsburgh’s banged-up offensive line and Wilson’s penchant for taking sacks, it’s a risky decision for Tomlin to make with the Steelers not playing bad football with Fields as their quarterback.
It’s a decision that might not pay off, as the Steelers were 4-2 with Fields under center. And if Wilson comes in and struggles or the Steelers struggle with Wilson leading the offense, Mike Tomlin will get a lot of heat, and that heat will be deserved, given it was his decision alone.
