Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
Athlon Sports
'Crazy!' Steelers Blasted For QBDecision by Florio
By Wil Riggs,
7 hours ago
The Pittsburgh Steelers have one more preseason game to go before they have to officially announce the starting quarterback heading into the season. But ... Reports are that veteran Russell Wilson will be the starter and Justin Fields will be the backup.
NFL Insider Mike Florio from Pro Football Talk recently appeared on 93.5 The Fan in Pittsburgh and called out the Steelers for this decision.
Aug 9, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Justin Fields (2) warms up before playing the Houston Texans at Acrisure Stadium.
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
"I don't know what the Steelers are thinking, but I think it'd be crazy not to go with Justin Fields, looking at that offense," Florio said. "The way the offensive line is playing. And you throw on top of it, Jaylen Warren presumably being injured into the season.
“Where do you get the burst? Where do you get the acceleration? Where do you get the excitement? You get it from Justin Fields."
Following Wilson’s dismal debut performance with the Steelers last week in which he gained 20 total yards on 19 offensive plays, coordinator Arthur Smith stated that he wasn’t calling the whole offense for Wilson.
Florio disagrees with the assessment that Wilson is the right move.
"There just was a greater sense of excitement when Justin Fields played,” Florio said. “And if the offense isn't going to be what it needs to be, go with the guy that gives you that ability to make things happen. When protection falls apart, when the play that's called goes to crap, and you've gotta have a guy who can improvise with his legs.”
Everyone is entitled to an opinion, of course, and Florio has a habit of positioning himself at PFT as an "expert'' who "demands'' that owners, GMs coaches and players do everything the way he insists they should.
In this space? We need to see another game. And Steelers fans probably need to trust the coaching staff to make a call - a call by the way that has no less an authority than Bill Cowher saying that Wilson is the right choice.
The Steelers play one final preseason game on Saturday at Detroit when they take on the Lions. If Wilson doesn’t perform at a high level, and Fields does, there could be some tough decisions to be made.
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Comments / 0