The Pittsburgh Steelers enjoyed one of the most satisfying victories in years, defeating the Las Vegas Raiders by a score of 32-13 in a game featuring dramatic defensive plays and a breakout running game by Najee Harris.
Allegiant Stadium showed no allegiance to the home team as Steelers Nation raided the Raiders’ facility, like tens of thousands attending a bachelor’s party on the Las Vegas strip.
For those who enjoy their Steelers spun up on classic vinyl, it was as tasty a serving of Black and Gold perfection as we’ve savored in quite some time.
So…why so sad?
It’s because we returned to Pittsburgh to discover our 4-2 team deeply mired in the quicksand of a full-blown quarterback controversy.
Just when we thought we were back to being the Pittsburgh Steelers again, we ended up acting like the Cleveland Browns.
With his calf injury behind him, Russell Wilson is now said to be ready to claim his anointed throne of starting quarterback. If you’re to believe depth charts on the Steelers website all season long, it was an Iron Throne that apparently Justin Fields was only keeping warm.
Thanks, Justin. Would you mind getting the fellas some Gatorade now?
Or is Coach Mike Tomlin playing the Game of Thrones with the New York Jets? Are the rumors of Wilson starting this weekend merely a red herring in a bestselling suspense novel?
According to Tomlin, it’s none of our business. It’s an inside job, Top Secret, spy vs. Spy, 007.
Unfortunately, for Pittsburgh’s long-tenured leader, the team has a mole named George Pickens who revealed the state secrets.
Love it…or lump it. Russell Wilson is the team’s starter on Sunday.
After all, why bother with a half-blown quarterback controversy when it’s a full one the team has wanted all along?
Want more insider information? Get out your secret decoder ring, and let’s give it a Spin.
Ground Control To Major Tom
For someone who has advocated that the Steelers return to Roots, Rock, and Reggae for years, the Raiders game was the quintessential plate of return-to-glory deliciousness for the Spin.
I absolutely feasted on that game.
Bone cracking, relentless running. Fastidious ball security and time of possession domination on offense. Hard-hitting, turnover-producing defense. All led by a quarterback who seems to be the perfect glove for this year’s winning hand.
I was so fired up by the game’s conclusion that I was anxious to revel and renegade amongst the throng. At last! We’re on our the right path, Steelers Nation!
But…strangely, we weren’t celebrating. We were complaining, mostly about Justin Fields’s performance and the offense overall.
Wait? Didn’t we get 32 points on offense? Wasn’t our quarterback responsible for two impressive rushing touchdowns crafted primarily from his unique art? Wasn’t this game a continuation of his six-game streak of maximum ball security? Hasn’t he contributed 10 touchdowns with only two turnovers?
Yet, as the flooding of negativity regarding the team and Fields’ play continued following the game, I realized I was in some sort of alternate universe on this topic.
Was Fields wild at times? Definitely. He had about three throws in a row that each looked like frisbees tossed in a windstorm.
Yet, he also had several plays on which he absorbed heavy hits while throwing with perfect timing and being on target, only to have his receivers fail to complete their part of the team sport.
Catch the ball!!
I don’t care what you people say. That was another fine game for the Fields Resume this year. I emphasize resume because he’s a free agent at the end of this year, and malign him at your risk. Don’t fool yourself. He can take this job and shove it.
Still, I admit it. I’m in the clear minority here. Just surfing alone in space, like in the funniest last minute of a film in movie history. (You’ve never seen Dark Star?… What’s wrong with you?)
Not only am I lost in space on this one, but I’m also a bit tweaked, to be honest.
I mean. We shouldn’t be arguing Steelers Nation. We should be celebrating.
Let’s Talk About Something Else
Like…let’s talk about Davante Adams. Understanding that taking on his full salary was a heavy load, how could it be construed that trading a provisional third-round draft pick for Adams was excessive?
Yes…it could turn out to be a second-round draft pick, but only if Adams turns back into his All-Pro self or if the New York Jets make the AFC Championship game—the same Jets that recently fired their head coach.
Why wouldn’t the Steelers be willing to put up something similar, with perhaps an extra sweetening of the pot? Weren’t we being told that Pittsburgh was “aggressively pursuing” Adams? It sounds eerily similar to what we were being told about their allegedly aggressive courting of Brandon Aiyuk.
In the case of Aiyuk, it cost the San Francisco 49ers a $120 million extension to keep their receiver at bay and at the Bay.
Jerry Jones inked a four-year, $136 million contract extension for CeeDee Lamb to keep his star receiver with a star on the side of his helmet.
With Adams restructuring his contract for the Jets, they’ll have to pay a little over $11 million for his services the rest of the year. It’s not pocket change, but well beneath the going market for a player like Adams, even at age 31.
You will have to overpay when you have to make a deal mid-season. That’s because you’re typically filling a star-sized hole on your roster. One that you didn’t properly fill in the preseason.
A team with a star-sized hole is the perfect description of the current state of the Steelers, who never made up for the loss of Diontae Johnson on the offense.
Currently, it’s a moody George Pickens and…and…I’m waiting…still waiting.
Compare this with teams who have dynamic receiving duos like Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle (Miami Dolphins), A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith (Philadelphia Eagles), Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison (Minnesota Vikings), Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel (San Francisco 49’ers), Nico Collins and Stefon Diggs (Houston Texans), Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins (Cincinnati Bengals), DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett (Seattle Seahawks), Cooper Kupp and Puka Nakua (Los Angeles Rams)…should I go on?
Many of those teams have third and fourth receivers who could best our second-choice receivers.
The Steelers have some promising young receivers on the roster who could someday ascend to a higher prominence on the field. But they aren’t there yet and probably won’t get there this year.
The challenge is that cornerbacks in the National Football League are of such high caliber that it takes elite receiving skills to earn a few inches of separation. Even with that separation, it takes extraordinary gifts to complete the catch despite the impending cornerback, safety, and even linebacker collisions.
Perhaps the Steelers believe that thrusting Russell Wilson ahead of Fields into the lineup will suddenly make all of the team’s receivers wide-open, but color me doubtful on that one.
Not to mention that the pass protection being provided by this injured, taped-together offensive line isn’t exactly creating roomy, bubble-wrapped NFL-grade pockets.
This is why, regarding acquiring Davante Adams…it doesn’t appear the Steelers were anywhere near aggressive enough.
Regaining Footing
The most encouraging aspect of the Steelers’ game against the Raiders was the defense’s bounce-back after starting the game poorly.
The Raiders marched down the field in 10 plays for 70 yards with complete ease. It was almost as if they were deeply offended that half of the stadium was spinning Terrible Towels.
Despite this rough start, Pittsburgh’s defense managed to steady the ship impressively as they essentially defused the Raiders’ offensive threat for the remainder of the game. How long has it been since the Steelers have been able to say, “The defense rests” that early in the fourth quarter of a game?
Perhaps most importantly, despite getting spotted some ground yardage on that first drive, the Raiders only gained 57 yards rushing for the game.
With Nick Chubb returning from injury for the Cleveland Browns this weekend and with Derrick Henry partying again like it’s 1999 for the Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh is going to have to get back to stopping the run as impressively as they did at the beginning of the season to keep from getting trampled by herds of elephants in the days ahead.
Baltimore is averaging more than 200 rushing yards per game, and with a mid-November date lurking when Pittsburgh will begin to play five division games in six weeks, they are going to need their defense primed for prime time, or it could be lights out for 2024 in a flick of the switch.
Despite having Breece Hall on their team, the Jets are one of the worst teams in the NFL when it comes to running the ball, so this needs to be another notch in the Steelers’ run-stopping belt.
Some welcome news in support of this necessary endeavor is the return of Alex Highsmith to the defense. Though understandably overshadowed by T.J. Watt’s legendary greatness, Highsmith is quietly one of the most critical aspects of Pittsburgh’s ability to defend dually against both the run and pass.
Even with the enhanced offensive capabilities of having Davante Adams thrown to by a familiar face and future Hall of Fame quarterback, the Jets’ true challenge is playing against their second-ranked defense. So, the Steelers defense needs to do its part in keeping the lights off the scoreboard and the game close in hand.
King’s Gambit
If one of the worst-kept secrets in the NFL ends up being true, and Russell Wilson starts his first game ever as a Pittsburgh Steeler, it will mean this is a very different offense…for better or worse.
There is a vast disparity in the styles of play between Wilson and Fields.
There is no contest when it comes to pure passers…it’s Wilson for the win by a mile in that category. His ability to read a defense, make quick decisions, and deliver a crisp pass to an open receiver will make all of the difference.
That is…if there are open receivers. Regardless of the upgrade in passing acumen and experience, Wilson can’t both pass…and run the routes.
If Wilson ends up looking left and then right, and there aren’t several pairs of eyes looking back, saying, “I’m always bleeping open,” then it could be a rough reentry this season for the former Seattle Seahawks great.
At that point, Fields will be more fully appreciated for his elite athleticism, which allows him to accomplish one Houdini escape after another so smoothly. It will be at that moment that his propensity to earn key first downs and touchdowns with his legs will be painfully and obviously absent.
There is no question that this mid-season quarterback change by Coach Mike Tomlin is one of the greatest gambits he’s made in the course of his career.
Offensive Coordinator Arthur Smith clearly signaled he would have preferred to ride with Fields, so this decision is squarely on Tomlin’s broad shoulders.
Even if Wilson does well for the Steelers, it will not come without a price.
Pittsburgh is permanently surrendering the opportunity to communicate to an elite, talented, young quarterback that “Chicago didn’t believe in you, but we do here.”
That’s forever lost. That’s the price.
Let’s hope that this decision is remarkably shrewd for the team’s good, one that defies the wisdom of many of the league’s top experts and the opinion frequently shared here in the Spin.
It’s definitely a case of “Go Steelers” all the way. Whether top secret or not, the decision is made, and we need to get behind it: win, lose, or draw.
But, for these eyes, that won’t keep the sight of Fields watching the New York Jets game from the sidelines as appearing to be both terribly unjust and unwise.
