Sitting at 4-2 on the season and seemingly back on track following a blowout win over the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 6, things seem to be looking up again for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
They won the game thanks to strong performances from all three phases of the game, which included a season-high 183 rushing yards, three forced turnovers and a blocked punt on special teams.
Good is the enemy of great, though, and head coach Mike Tomlin is searching for great on offense. That’s why he’s considering a QB change, potentially switching from Justin Fields to Russell Wilson in Week 7 against the New York Jets. After all, Wilson was named the starter and a team captain entering the season but re-injured his calf two days before the season opener and is just now getting healthy.
Logically, it’s Tomlin going back to his starter, but it’s created quite the controversy as the Steelers were winning with Fields and he appears to be the future in Pittsburgh.
For The Athletic’s Robert Mays, who appeared on the latest episode of the “The Athletic Football Show” Tuesday, it doesn’t matter who the Steelers’ QB is. The team will win 10 games under Tomlin and then get bounced in the first round of the playoffs again.
“They’re 4-2. We’ll see what happens with Russell Wilson, who’s now going to be their starting quarterback, apparently. I just, it doesn’t matter to me. Like I have no feelings about who the Pittsburgh Steelers choose to be their starting quarterback,” Mays said, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “I think Justin Fields is probably a more dynamic, exciting option. I think it doesn’t matter in the long run. I’m just not sure it matters that much who they put into that spot. They’re going to be the 22nd-best offense in the league, their defense is going to be good, they’re going to win 10 games and they’re going to lose in the first round of the playoffs.”
Justin Fields is certainly the more dynamic, exciting option for the Steelers, both now and moving forward. But he’s had some struggles in the passing game, especially in the last two weeks, passing for just 117 and 145 yards as the Steelers went 1-1.
While Fields has avoided the mistakes and not turned the football over, his accuracy has waned in recent weeks. He’s just not seeing the field all that well, especially deeper, where he hasn’t seen some throws open up.
He’s been solid this season and has done everything asked of him by the Steelers, but there’s a lot left to be desired in the passing game. That could be leading to the change to Wilson, who is a better passer than Fields.
As Mays said, though, it might not matter at all who the quarterback is, largely because the defense is so good, and neither quarterback is going to elevate or sink the offense enough to make the Steelers anything more or less than a 10-win team and out of the playoffs in the first round.
That might not be what many want to hear, but it’s spot-on from Mays. Wilson isn’t going to elevate this team, particularly the offense, into a Super Bowl contender, not with the issues at wide receiver and the issues in the trenches due to injuries and poor play.
Fields wasn’t elevating them, either, though his mobility and his rushing abilities helped offset some of the offensive line issues.
We’ll see what Wilson has, should the Steelers turn to him officially as their starting quarterback. It’s a move many expected, but right expectations aren’t all that high for the move. Nor should they be.
