Sitting at 4-2 on the season thanks to a blowout win on the road over the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 6 in which quarterback Justin Fields rushed for two touchdowns, the defense forced three turnovers and special teams blocked a punt, the Pittsburgh Steelers appear poised to get on a roll once again.
The arrow is very clearly pointing up for the Steelers, even in the midst of a bunch of injuries.
Mike Tomlin is not going to let good get in the way of potentially being great. That is why he’s eyeing a quarterback change, turning to Russell Wilson over Fields now that Wilson, who was named the starter entering the season before getting hurt, is fully healthy.
It’s a curious decision, especially with teammates and others in the building reportedly being behind Fields as the starting quarterback. But that’s why Tomlin gets paid the big bucks.
Former NFL TE and Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe, who appeared on the latest “Nightcap” show Thursday night, stated that Tomlin and the Steelers “better be careful” in this situation with the quarterbacks, because “this is a powder keg” with Wilson likely taking over a winning team.
“Mike Tomlin needs to be very careful here, Ocho. He needs to be very, very careful here. All I’ll say is this. He better beat the Jets. He better win against the Jets. All I’ll say,” Sharpe said of Tomlin and the change to Wilson, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “The question is, and we didn’t see enough, but when people say you can’t [lose your job to injury], yes you can. Mike Shanahan told us like, ‘Look, you could lose your job if you get injured and the guy comes in and he’s playing better than you before you got injured. It’s this job right now.’ We didn’t see Russ play in the regular season, so we don’t know what he looks like in meaningful play, but boy Mike Tomlin needs to be very careful with this situation. This is a powder keg.
“I don’t know how you go back to Justin Fields. I don’t.”
It certainly is a dicey situation, considering the Steelers were winning games, even if it was in an ugly fashion.
Fields showed off his rushing abilities and did the one thing the Steelers asked him to do, which was not turn the football over. He has just two turnovers the season, one interception and one fumble lost, though he has a league-high six fumbles.
While Fields’ rushing performance has been impressive, his passing performance has left much to be desired, especially coming off of passing outputs of 117 yards against the Dallas Cowboys and 145 yards against the Raiders.
But, in this business, it’s all about winning, and Fields has the Steelers at 4-2. That has to matter at some point, but right now that doesn’t matter to Tomlin and the Steelers. They’re going back to the guy they named the starter and a team captain.
As Sharpe said, Wilson and the Steelers better beat the Jets after making this change, because if not, it could get ugly. At least, that’s the outside perspective. Inside the locker room is another thing entirely. Team captain Cameron Heyward said the team is riding with both quarterbacks and linebacker Patrick Queen said a change wouldn’t stir things up at all.
Fields did his best on Thursday to downplay the change, stating he hasn’t played well enough to keep the job, while Wilson made sure to praise Fields as much as possible during his media session. On the surface it might look like a powder keg to those on the outside.
But on the inside, things seem fine. We’ll see how long that lasts.
