The Pittsburgh Steelers, despite improving to 4-2 with a win over the depleted Las Vegas Raiders, might finally have a quarterback controversy on their hands. Justin Fields played his worst game of an otherwise promising season. It wasn’t good a good time for Fields to struggle, as Russell Wilson appears to finally be fully healthy and ready to take over if needed.
To this point in the year, it wouldn’t have made any sense for the Steelers to replace Fields with Wilson. Even when the offense struggled through the first five weeks, Fields was rarely at fault. That was not the case in Week 6, though. While it is in no way imperative for Pittsburgh to turn to Wilson, it would, for the first time this season, be an understandable move for them to make.
Making the Case for Russell Wilson to Start for Steelers
Clean Up Offense’s Sloppiness
One weakness of the Steelers offense that Fields can be blamed for is their general sloppiness on the field. They have not been on the same page as a unit way too many times. Linemen are confused about the play call, or they are not on the same wavelength regarding their blocking scheme. Pittsburgh took two delay of game penalties against the Raiders while other instances saw them barely get the snap off to avoid a penalty. They don’t have enough talent on their offense to overcome miscommunications and avoidable penalties.
While there are certainly more people to blame than Fields for these mistakes, the quarterback is by far the most important piece of the pre-snap process. An experienced veteran like Wilson would do a much better job communicating in the huddle and at the line of scrimmage. There have also been too many snapping-related issues with Fields at quarterback. That’s another area Wilson could bring improvement. The Steelers offense is one that needs to stay on schedule and grind out drives to have success. Self-inflicted wounds are drive killers, and Fields has overseen too many of them this season.
The AFC is Wide Open
While the Steelers should probably be focused more on the future than the present, it would be hard to blame them for being in complete win-now mode. They are 4-2 and have the best point differential in the AFC (pending the Bills/Jets Monday Night Football matchup). The Steelers aren’t the best team in the conference and only have an outside chance to make a deep run in the playoffs. However, an outside chance is the best chance they’ve had in years, and they won’t want to squander the opportunity.
There is no guarantee Wilson is a better win-now quarterback than Fields, but one could not blame the Steelers for wanting to find out. Wilson could come in, clean up some minor league mistakes and be a more accurate passer than Fields was Sunday against Las Vegas. If Wilson can accomplish those things, Pittsburgh would have a chance to stand toe-to-toe with the likes of the Baltimore Ravens, Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans. And if Wilson comes in and struggles, there’s nothing preventing the Steelers from switching back to Fields, though it wouldn’t be ideal for the young quarterback’s development.
Acknowledging the Counterpoints
There are two obvious arguments against the Steelers turning to Wilson. The first is the massive advantage Fields has in the mobility department. Some of Pittsburgh’s most productive plays on offense have come via designed quarterback runs, or Fields taking off when the pocket collapses. Wilson doesn’t navigate the pocket well, and he especially will not be performing any designed runs. It wouldn’t be ideal for the Steelers to cross off a section of their playbook that has been among their best.
The other argument for Fields to remain the starter is Pittsburgh is coming off their most complete performance of the season. Yes, they played the Raiders. And yes, their defense deserves much more credit for the win than their offense. But at the end of the day, they played their best football as a team to date and they might not want to make the switch and risk the wheels falling off.
Main Photo Courtesy of Barry Reeger – Imagn Images
