Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin went “Lone Ranger” with his decision to make a quarterback change from Justin Fields to Russell Wilson for Week 7 against the New York Jets.
Prior to the change, the Steelers were 4-2 and coming off of a 32-point outburst against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 6 with Fields at quarterback. But Tomlin wasn’t going to let good be the enemy of great, which led to the change as he wanted to see what he has in Wilson.
What he got on Sunday night was a strong performance from Wilson, who set the franchise record for most passing yards in a debut for the team. The 13th-year veteran threw for 264 yards and two touchdowns on 16-of-29 completions, adding a rushing touchdown to help the Steelers to improve to 5-2.
For former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who appeared on the Pat McAfee Show Monday afternoon, the move by Tomlin deserves a lot of praise.
“Coach Tomlin had a good feel, has a good feel now. You gotta give Coach Tomlin a lot of credit. I mean, that was…as usual, he makes a lot of good moves and knows his team extremely well,” Belichick said of Tomlin’s decision at quarterback, according to video via the McAfee Show on YouTube. “But he knows what he has with Wilson. He knows what he has with Fields, and that’s a good thing to have halfway through the season and have two guys that you can count on.
“He didn’t know that until last night for sure about Wilson.”
That was largely the reasoning behind the change from Fields to Wilson. He wanted to find out now, rather than later, at least according to ESPN’s Jeff Darlington’s report Sunday from ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown.
And it paid off.
Wilson was outstanding against the Jets. He had some underthrown balls, but receivers made plays, and he was aggressive and cut it loose down the field time and time again. He really settled into a groove after the first quarter, adding an element to the offense that the Steelers had been missing early in the season in the passing game.
Tomlin felt the Steelers needed to get a look, and he was rewarded in a big way, stating after the game that the decision is why he’s “well compensated” to make those decisions, too. He’s right.
Now he knows what he has in Fields after six games and has a good feel for what he has in Wilson after Sunday night. It was just one game, but it was a bold move by Tomlin that paid off in a major way and now has the Steelers rolling and feeling good.
Credit to Tomlin. He pulled the right strings and pushed the right buttons. He has a good feel for the team once again, and that showed.
