In what became one of the bigger talking points of the week, the Steelers decided to bench Justin Fields ahead of the week 7 game against the Jets. Despite Fields leading this team to a 4-2 record and showing dynamic ability on the ground and through the air, the team, and seemingly Mike Tomlin, wanted to roll with the veteran they had envisioned starting.
This was a move that was criticized by a lot of fans and analysts, myself included. While I did think that the team needed to make its quarterback choice this week, I felt like it was unwise to bench Fields. He is younger, has a great arm, and is a dynamic athlete as opposed to Wilson who is much closer to the end of his career right now.
Had Fields fallen flat on his face, a move to Wilson made sense, but a strong record through six games made it a hard sell to me.
The Steelers saw something in Russell Wilson
Despite all of these talking points, Wilson came out and proved Tomlin right this week. It was a slow start, but once Wilson turned it on, he was on fire. He took command of the offense and helped guide the team down the field through the air. The run game complimented things and kept drives alive.
To be fair, Wilson didn’t have too much on his plate. The offense seemed to finally open things up some this week, something I predicted would be the case given how timid the unit worked through Fields. The defense also did its part and kept the Jets at bay and recorded two turnovers.
You can’t fault Wilson for that though. Despite all of the hate he received this week, and even the boos he got in the game, he showed everyone that he still has something left in the tank. We owe him an apology for being so ruthless to him out of the gate. As for Tomlin, he took a major risk this week in starting Wilson and it paid off.
While time will tell how the remainder of Wilson’s tenure in a Steelers uniform will go, both he and Tomlin deserve praise this week because of the dominance they displayed in this game.