Russell

Wilson

Wilson also took four sacks and lost a fumble. With the lake effect snow swirling in Cleveland, it was another night of “moon ball or bust” for Wilson, who did manage to find each of Calvin Austin, Pat Freiermuth, George Pickens and Van Jefferson for at least one 20-plus yard completion. There wasn’t a whole lot going on beyond that, however, and the Steelers acknowledged as much by continually shuttling Justin Fields onto the field for important plays. Fields made a modest impact with his legs, but nothing that is going to have the Steelers re-thinking their starting situation despite a mini-slump the past five days. That being said, more will be needed and expected from Wilson in a soft Week 13 road date with the Bengals’ nonexistent defense. He will be in the streaming mix for that one.

Fields in Week 11 had two rushes for 17 yards after weeks of Steelers coaches talking up a Fields rushing package. Smith said Fields would have had more usage against Baltimore if the Steelers had not stalled out on several first half drives. He stressed that the team does not see Fields as a gadget player. “We have two starting quarterbacks,” Smith said Tuesday. “It’s a very unique situation.” More usage for Fields — especially in the red zone — could make Russell Wilson unviable in one-quarterback fantasy formats.

The Ravens did their part to hold Russ in check. Entering the day with eight completions on passes of 20-plus yards, Wilson only completed one such pass in Sunday’s victory, as the Ravens held him to short dump-offs and check-downs for most of the afternoon. The Steelers did not score a touchdown in this one, as all 18 of their points scored came courtesy of Chris Boswell, who was a perfect 6-for-6 on his field goal attempts. Wilson and the first-place Steelers now prepare to face the Browns on a short week as they look to extend their lead in the AFC North.

The Steelers did all they could to throw this one away. A botched fake punt in the first quarter led to a 16-yard touchdown drive for the Commanders, and Jaylen Warren lost a fumble on the goal line. That said, Russ and the offense came up big when it mattered the most, as the veteran quarterback tossed three scores on the day, with his last coming on a 32-yard deep shot to Mike Williams for the go-ahead touchdown. Wilson completed a season-low 50 percent of his passes in this one, and also took three sacks. However, he also picked up several chunk plays through the air to negate several negative plays on the afternoon. Wilson has now thrown for 737-6-1 in his three starts and will be a solid QB2 in Week 11 against a porous Ravens defense.

While he did not throw an interception for his second straight start in Pittsburgh, Wilson did lose a key fumble in the fourth quarter but T.J. Watt returned the favor on the following drive, collecting a strip-sack from Daniel Jones to give the ball right back to the Steelers. One of the aspects of Wilson’s game that the team had sorely been missing with Justin Fields under center is his ability to deliver touch-pass deep balls as he connected with alpha wide receiver George Pickens on another such pass for 43 yards in the fourth quarter. The Steelers improve to 6-2 with the win and are a perfect 2-0 with Wilson heading into their bye week. They travel to face the Commanders out of their bye in Week 10.

The Pittsburgh offense looked understandably shaky for most of the first half until an interception by rookie Beanie Bishop gave them momentum just before the half. Wilson would lead the team down the field and into the end zone to bring the Steelers within two points heading into the break. That momentum carried into the second half as Pittsburgh hung 24 points on a battered New York defense. The Steelers’ offense looked much more fluid with Wilson under center, with the veteran quarterback giving the offense an element of downfield ability they had sorely been lacking during the first six weeks of the season. Wilson made multiple “touch” throws based on timing and ball placement, with alpha wide receiver George Pickens doing most of the heavy lifting. The Steelers surged to 5-2 ahead of a Week 8 matchup with the reeling Giants at home.

Rapoport notes that both Wilson and Justin Fields will play with Wilson taking the bulk of the snaps. This not only confirms George Pickens’ report on Friday, but also the idea that Wilson was the teams’ presumptive starter in training camp before he suffered a calf injury. Sunday Night Football on NBC just got even more interesting with Wilson now set to make his first start for his third team in four years.

Add Pickens’ name to the players who have all but confirmed Wilson as the team’s Week 7 starter against the Jets. Justin Fields danced around the topic early Thursday, saying he didn’t think he “played good enough” to keep the QB1 job, only for Wilson to say later in the day that Sunday would be his “first game of the year.” Head coach Mike Tomlin appears to be the only person interested in keeping this decision “in-house,” but there are multiple signs pointing to Wilson being the QB1 when the offense takes the field on Sunday Night Football on NBC.

Tomlin continues to try to keep things close to the vest despite Russell Wilson hinting at the decision on Thursday when he said Sunday’s game would be his “first game of the year.” All signs this week have pointed toward a shift to Wilson, including comments made by Justin Fields, who said he didn’t think he “played good enough” to remain as the team’s starter on Thursday. Both quarterbacks are expected to be active on game day, meaning the Steelers could take this right up to the first snap if they choose to do so.

The Steelers haven’t officially committed to naming a starter for Week 7’s contest, but Wilson’s comments suggest he’ll get the nod after being activated as Justin Fields’ backup in Week 6. His comments come shortly after Fields himself talked about not playing well enough to remain as the team’s starter during the first six weeks of the season. We’re still waiting on word from head coach Mike Tomlin on who will ultimately draw the start, but both Wilson and Fields seem to know what’s coming.