I grew up 60 miles from Pittsburgh. For every football season of my life with the exception of 1986 (I spent the semester living in Oakland, California), I’ve lived within 100 miles of Three Rivers Stadium and then Heinz Field and then the place I will keep calling Heinz Field. I was too stubborn to be a Steelers fan when I was a kid, but I’ve been surrounded by them for my entire life.
So I’ve got a pretty good sense of what the Steelers are. And I currently think they (specifically, coach Mike Tomlin) are determined to start the season with Russell Wilson at quarterback. Even if the fans would prefer Justin Fields.
Yes, Tomlin has only ever said that Wilson is in the “pole position” for the job. But the vibe continues to be that Fields hasn’t taken it from Wilson, even with Wilson injured for several weeks to start camp and even with Justin Fields giving the offense more explosion and excitement when both played in the most recent preseason game.
Wilson, in limited work on Saturday night, looked more like the Denver version of himself and not the Seattle version. But if he wasn’t fully unleashed due to the calf problem and given that his offensive line was overwhelmed, it might have not been a fair glimpse of what he currently is.
Tomlin seems to have decided that the Broncos experience was an aberration. Why else would he have not called Denver coach Sean Payton to talk about the good, the bad, the pros, the cons of adding Wilson to the team?
Tomlin has had the benefit of studying Russell Wilson since he entered the league in 2012. There’s an Eastern Virginia connection that has influenced Tomlin in the past. And Tomlin can always pivot to Fields later, if Wilson isn’t getting it done.
Here’s another factor that potentially helps Wilson. Three of the first six games come against teams from the AFC West, where Wilson spent the last two seasons. And it starts with a return to Denver, in Week 2. He’ll be extra motivated to beat the Broncos, and he’ll be more familiar with the Chargers in Week 3 and the Raiders in Week 6.
The fact that Wilson and the Steelers start with a pair of road games gives him a chance to build up some equity without having to hear murmurs from the hometown fans if/when he misfires on passes or gets swallowed up by pass rushers. He can play a full 60 minutes for two straight weeks and try to start the year 2-0. If that happens, the Yinzers will be far more forgiving in Week 3, against the Chargers.
The bigger tests come in a pair of Sunday night home games in Week 5 (Cowboys) and Week 7 (Jets). With another prime-time game the following Monday against the Giants, it’ll be three standalone games in four weeks. With the bye immediately after that. If Russ isn’t cooking through eight games, that’s when they can flip to Fields.
We’ll see what happens. But if feels like Tomlin wants to give Wilson the first crack at becoming what he was before he played for the Broncos. If Tomlin is right, Wilson could take the Steelers a lot farther than Fields could. And if Tomlin is wrong, there will always be time to let Fields give it a try.