Steelers' Tomlin Explains Pulling Wilson After One Drive in Lions Loss

The Pittsburgh Steelers have yet to decide who their starting quarterback will be for their Week 1 regular-season opener against the Atlanta Falcons. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin ultimately declined to announce a starter following Saturday's 24-17 loss to the Detroit Lions.

The decision to delay an announcement until "later" happened despite Russell Wilson being treated like the starter in the preseason finale, where he played on the opening drive before handing it over to Justin Fields.

"We just needed results that are indicative of how we've worked," Tomlin said. "And so they were able to put together a score and drive and really just provided an opportunity to get Justin in there sooner, and so that's why we did it."

As Tomlin revealed in the leadup to Saturday's game, the third preseason game is like a "rehearsal" for the starters as they prepare for the upcoming season. Deciding to have Wilson play with the first-team offense makes it seem all the more likely that he'll be the starter.

Not to mention that Wilson's five-play drive on Saturday, which concluded with a 31-yard touchdown run by Cordarrelle Patterson, was the first score the Steelers' starting unit had produced all preseason. Being the leader of that drive can only help Wilson, in his case, to become the starter.

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"Last week we just didn't stay on schedule, and this time we did, ..." Wilson said of the offense's improvement. "So we got a lot more work to do and we got to keep our heads down and keep going."

The Steelers will have two weeks to prepare for their season opener against the Falcons. This will be a homecoming of sorts for offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, who will look to beat the team that just fired him this past offseason.