Has the time come? Is Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin going to make the switch to QB Russell Wilson this Sunday night against the New York Jets? While he didn’t come out and declare it on Tuesday, he did say that it was certainly a possibility.
That’s despite the fact the Steelers are 4-2 with Justin Fields as the starter. But evidently, Tomlin feels like the offense could be doing more, and that starts with the quarterback position. The Steelers are in a good spot right now. They have the same record as the Baltimore Ravens, who currently lead the AFC North thanks to a win over the Cincinnati Bengals. So, for a team desperate to make some positive headway in the postseason, Tomlin doesn’t want to lose that opportunity.
“If Mike Tomlin believes in him and Mike Tomlin sees enough of him, Mike’s gonna give him an opportunity,” said former Steelers CB and Pro Football Hall of Famer Rod Woodson on Tuesday’s episode of What The Football with Suzy Shuster and Amy Trask. “Because Mike knows there’s not a lot of great teams in the National Football League right now. When you look at it across the board, you’ve got some good teams, but there’s not that many great teams in the league. And if they can find their footing with the quarterback position, Mike knows they’ve got a great chance.”
After Week 6 of the NFL season, only two teams in the NFL have a perfect record. The Kansas City Chiefs and the Minnesota Vikings are 5-0 (they both had the bye week in Week 6). The Houston Texans have a 5-1 record, and the Detroit Lions are 4-1. Those four teams are the only teams that have a better record than the Steelers at this point. And the Steelers are one of eight teams that are 4-2. Five of those teams are in the NFC.
The Steelers have a great opportunity to stake a claim to being a playoff contender. They’ve got a fantastic defense, averaging 14.3 points allowed per game, and they’re second-best in the league. So if Tomlin believes that Wilson can take the offense to the next level, he’s going to make that move.
But what about the locker room? They’ve been playing with Fields for the last six weeks and are 4-2 with him under center. How would a mid-season switch coming off a 32-13 win over the Las Vegas Raiders sit with the players?
“Mike’s a really good coach,” Woodson said. “He listens to the locker room. He listens to his leaders. If Mike believes that Russell’s gonna spark that offense, then he’s going to give him that opportunity.”
One of those leaders is DL Cam Heyward. And Heyward spoke with Wilson for an hour or two before he signed to help convince Wilson to come to Pittsburgh. So, one of the team’s most decorated leaders is probably on board with the switch.
Woodson notes that it’s a big gamble, but this is arguably the year to take a big swing. The Chiefs may be undefeated, but they’ve certainly been in their fair share of close games. Four of their five wins came in one-score games.
So Tomlin probably feels like he owes it to guys like Heyward, T.J. Watt, and Minkah Fitzpatrick to do everything he can to figure out the quarterback position. The Steelers’ two losses were close games. Fields led a comeback that fell short against the Indianapolis Colts in the first loss. However, the offense failed to take advantage of three turnovers in the loss to the Dallas Cowboys. So, even a win over the Raiders doesn’t erase those issues.
A big question is whether the switch should come against the Jets, who are tied for the third-most sacks in the league at 20. The offensive line has struggled this season, and former NFL G Damien Woody thinks it would be a bad idea to put Wilson under center behind this line.
But Tomlin and the Steelers feel like they have a good shot to contend with how things have shaped up this year. So now they are likely turning to Wilson to see if he can kickstart a slow passing offense.
