As the work week ends and the Sunday Night Football matchup against the New York Jets draws closer, all signs are pointing to veteran quarterback and team captain Russell Wilson making his first career start as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Wilson, who was named the starter entering the season, missed the first five games of the year as an inactive player due to a calf injury he aggravated just two days before the start of the regular season. Last week, he was the No. 2 behind Justin Fields.
This week he’s seemingly going to get his shot as the Steelers eye a quarterback change. Despite being 4-2 and Fields doing everything asked of him, the Steelers aren’t settling for “good” offensively. That’s led to some criticism for head coach Mike Tomlin and the Steelers, but for former NFL GM Mike Tannenbaum, it’s the right move. He just wouldn’t have done it this week against the Jets.
“Right decision, wrong week. Similar to what Bart [Scott] said. Look, right now Pittsburgh can’t get the ball down the field. Justin Fields is 27th in the league in yards per drop back. They need more explosive plays,” Tannenbaum said Friday on ESPN’s Get Up, according to video via ESPN. “But similar to what Bart just said, what’s the Achilles heel of the New York Jets? We saw it against San Francisco on opening day. We saw Monday night against the Bills. They can’t stop the run, especially consistently. Arthur Smith, their offensive coordinator, Mike Tomlin, they’ll run it every play.
“They know how to win games. So to me, I understand the reason they need more explosiveness. This is not the week, though, to win this game against this opponent. They gotta run the ball. That’s what Justin Fields does.”
As Tannenbaum pointed out, the Steelers have had issues in recent weeks getting the ball down the field in the passing game. It’s been a real struggle. Fields had some accuracy issues in recent weeks and also just wasn’t seeing some throws that were schemed up that should have been big plays.
That’s been a problem for the Steelers the last two years, which probably played a part in Tomlin wanting to see Wilson now that he’s fully healthy. He was brought in to be the starting quarterback, to elevate the Steelers’ offense in the passing game, and to lead the Steelers to a playoff win.
Though the weapons are largely limited, Wilson is a guy who is a rising tide that can lift all boats offensively. It’s certainly fair to question his mobility at this point in his career, but the guy can still get the ball down the field and has great accuracy.
The hope is that Wilson can hit some of those throws down the field, which will lighten the box and make it easier to run the football. It’s logical. It’s the right move for now. But it’s curious it’s done this week, rather than potentially coming out of the bye in Week 9 ahead of the Steelers’ Week 10 matchup against the Washington Commanders.
