The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off their second-straight loss and have fallen to 3-2. QB Justin Fields still threw for two touchdowns in the Sunday night loss to the Dallas Cowboys. However, there is a growing sense of frustration with the Steelers’ offense.
Cue the calls for QB Russell Wilson.
On Tuesday, head coach Mike Tomlin said that Wilson will be a full participant in Wednesday’s practice, something that hasn’t happened since the late stages of preseason. But Wilson isn’t being inserted into the starting lineup just yet. He’s slated to practice with the second-team offense while Fields continues to get reps with the starters. But how much longer will that be the case?
“I still believe [Russell Wilson] ends up playing at some point this year,” Tom Pelissero said during Overreaction Tuesday on The Rich Eisen Show. “Probably sooner rather than later.”
When co-host Chris Brockman pressed Pelissero if he believes that Wilson will play before or after the Steelers’ Week 9 bye, Pelissero simply said, “Before.”
Throughout this entire process, Wilson has remained the starter on the Steelers’ official depth chart. That did not change on Tuesday despite Tomlin stating Wilson will be practicing with the second team on Wednesday. Tomlin said that he does not want to cause issues with Fields’ game prep. That suggests that Fields will be starting against the Las Vegas Raiders. But Tomlin certainly leaves the door open for swift changes.
How Fields responds this week will go a long way toward addressing this situation. If Fields has a day reminiscent of his performance against the Indianapolis Colts, that will certainly cool off any talk of starting Wilson. But another lackluster performance and a loss will only fan the flames of fans’ burning discontentment.
Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette thinks the Steelers should make the switch now because of the string of bad results. He also thinks that if Wilson falls flat, the Steelers can turn back to Fields without issues because he’s proven that he can be a winning quarterback for the Steelers.
But Tomlin and the Steelers are walking a tightrope here. They need to balance the desire to win now with figuring out the quarterback position for the future. Do they pull the plug on Fields now and hope that Wilson can provide a big enough spark in the passing game that will overcome the loss of Fields’ athleticism both in dealing with offensive line issues and in terms of the run game?
How Wilson practices and Fields plays this weekend will go a very long way toward making that decision. But Pelissero expects Wilson to start for the Steelers very soon. And with a slate of winnable games against the Raiders, the New York Jets, who just fired head coach Robert Saleh, and the New York Giants, the Steelers would be well-served by stacking wins before the bye week.
