The Pittsburgh Steelers are now 2-0 with Justin Fields under center, but the offense hasn’t been forced to do all that much during the first two weeks of the season.
Still, there is a question of whether or not Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin would bench an undefeated Fields once veteran quarterback Russell Wilson is ready to return from his calf injury. After Fields and the Steelers bested his former franchise — the Denver Broncos — in Week 2, Wilson posted a brief message on social media.
“Team W! 🔥🔥” Wilson stated on X, reposting a 13-6 victory graphic from the Steelers account.
A show of support that was mostly well-received by the Steelers and NFL community.
“Way to be a leader and support this team on the sidelines. Glad to see this …” The most well-liked comment read.
Another Pittsburgh fan wrote: “We were at the game. I watched you walk up and down cheering and keeping everyone up. Thanks for your leadership. God has a plan. And I’m glad we got to be in this ride with you.”
Finally, one Steelers user even went as far as to request that Wilson “please start next week.”
Wilson’s post had over 8,000 likes in approximately five hours. It did not mention his fellow starting QB competition, Fields, but did support his team after a big revenge game win over an organization that released Wilson back in March.
Steelers’ Justin Fields Predicted to Start Again Over Russell Wilson in Week 3
Ahead of the Week 2 outing in Denver, there was a report from Steelers insider Gerry Dulac that Pittsburgh plans to start Fields at least until Week 4.
ESPN’s Brooke Pryor seconded that prediction after the Broncos win.
“Early prediction for next week,” the beat reporter said. “QB Justin Fields starts again in the Steelers’ home opener.”
Reasoning: “Though Fields had an uneven performance, he played well enough for the Steelers to continue to be cautious with Russell Wilson’s calf injury. Fields completed 10 of 12 attempts for 101 yards and a touchdown pass — his first as a Steeler — in the first half.”
Similarly, The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo noted “growth” and continued improvement from Fields. Although he also acknowledged that the Steelers offense must “continue to improve” and put more points on the board no matter who is at quarterback.
“Fields managed the game well in the first half, completing 10 of 12 passes for 101 yards and a touchdown. He also added 26 yards on the ground,” DeFabo recapped. “However, in the second half, the offense struggled to stay in rhythm.”
“The Steelers possessed the ball seven times in the second half,” he continued. “The longest of the seven lasted just five plays. Three times in the second half, the Steelers went three-and-out. The Steelers gained just 62 yards of offense after halftime and picked up just three first downs.”
Justin Fields Says Steelers ‘Did Enough to Win’ vs. Broncos, But Offense Has More Work to Do
During his on-field interview after the victory, Fields told NFL on CBS reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala that the Steelers “did enough to win,” but added candidly that “I don’t think we played good enough as an offense.”
Fields made it clear that “of course our defense played great.” But reiterated that there is still more work to be done on the offensive side of the ball.
The current QB1 specifically referenced “self-inflicted wounds” and “not shooting ourselves in the foot” going forward.
Later, when Kinkhabwala went out of her way to praise Fields for some of the “beautiful” throws he made that were negated by penalties, that didn’t appear to satisfy the young signal-caller either.
“Get rid of the penalties and we’ll be good,” he said after acknowledging that he took a step forward from last week. During his postgame press conference, Fields also voiced that the Steelers won this game for Wilson, who was “done dirty” by the Broncos.
