Throughout last week, Mike Tomlin tried to play coy about who was going to start at quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. It quickly became obvious that Russell Wilson was going to get a crack at the job, but what wasn’t so clear was if Justin Fields would be used in special packages. Tomlin stated that there was a chance that could happen, but after the Steelers’ 37-15 win over the New York Jets, he made it seem like he was comfortable letting Wilson take all the reps.
“I did not,” Tomlin stated when asked if he considered Fields in using short-yardage situations during his postgame press conference via the team’s YouTube channel.
That’s about as definitive an answer as you’ll get. During the first half, Fields had his helmet on, but Tomlin never went to him. The Steelers’ offense started off slow once again, and it looked like Wilson’s debut was going to be a flop. Fans probably wanted to see Fields, but Tomlin let Wilson ride it out.
The decision to not use Fields does make some sense. For starters, it was probably always going to take Wilson a little bit of time to warm up. He’s a veteran player coming off an injury that limited him leading up to the season. Subbing him out for Fields probably wouldn’t have helped his momentum.
Once Wilson did start to settle in, the offense began to roll. He wasn’t perfect, but he did make a few key plays. At that point, there was no need to go to Fields. What the offense was doing wasn’t broke, so there was no need to fix it. Considering they scored 37 points, it’s fair to say that letting Wilson get all the reps wasn’t a bad idea.
There was much controversy surrounding Tomlin’s decision at quarterback. Fields had the team sitting at 4-2, and he hadn’t played poorly. He still left a lot to be desired as passer though. Wilson also looked flawed, but he put in a good performance. Even during the short-yardage situations, like the quarterback sneaks where Fields had done well, Wilson was up to the standard.
The Steelers did still have some issues early, particularly in the red zone, so perhaps Fields will be incorporated more into the offense as time goes on. That’s assuming Wilson continues to play well enough to keep the starting job. Based on what he did against the New York Jets, it’s safe to say he will be starting in Week 8, barring injury. If the offense struggles more then, maybe Fields will get on the field.
