If there really is a Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback battle, it should still be in the mix after Saturday night.
Russell Wilson played in his first preseason game for the Steelers after opting out last week, and the offense has struggled in Wilson’s presence.
On Saturday against the Buffalo Bills, the Steelers had four punts and one missed field goal on Wilson’s five drives. Justin Fields took over just before the two-minute warning at the end of the first half. Wilson was 8-of-10 for 47 yards, but most of those came on three third-down passes that didn’t even result in a first down. It wasn’t a great game.
Wilson was sacked a couple of times on third down. One of Wilson’s issues with the Broncos was holding onto the ball too long and getting sacked too much. If that continued, it would frustrate the Steelers’ staff. Two sacks ruined drives and led to punts. In the Steelers’ first four drives, they had a net gain of 12 yards, one first down and four punts, never getting beyond their own 34-yard line.
Fields also gets sacked too often, but he can at least make up for it by scrambling for big gains, which was once a big part of Wilson’s game but has faded with age.
Fields’ rushing ability immediately led to the Steelers’ first points of the game in the final minute of the first half, when he scrambled 20 yards and completed a 5-yard pass before Chris Boswell set up a 43-yard field goal for Pittsburgh’s only points and the team lost the game 9–3.
Fields completed seven straight passes and his presence seemed to pick up the tempo for the offense. It wasn’t perfect, but it looked better than when Wilson was there. With one preseason game left, we’ll see if that’s an issue for the Steelers coaching staff. Fields completed 11 of 17 passes for 92 yards and also rushed for 42 yards. Fields and Wilson each had five drives.
Only one play really got the Steelers crowd excited: Fields was nearly sacked, but managed to break free, rolled to his left while adjusting his helmet, and fired a 19-yard pass down the sideline to Dez Fitzpatrick in the Steelers’ most exciting offensive play of the night.
In the preseason opener, Wilson missed the game because of a calf injury he suffered early in training camp, and Fields played decently, though a couple of fumbles overshadowed his positive play. The offense at least got some movement in that game.
The Steelers could do very little against the Bills defense while Wilson was out, as he was too content with checkdowns, got sacked and attempted three long passes on third down that fell just short of the first-down marker.
After an interception by Steelers safety Miles Killebrew, the offense showed some life, but it wasn’t enough. Wilson connected with Van Jefferson for an 11-yard gain on third down and two. A deep pass to George Pickens along the sideline was nearly caught, but he was just out of bounds. On third down, a pass that fell just short of the sticks again put Boswell in good position for a field goal, but Boswell fumbled it and hit it off the pole.
Wilson has been the favorite to start since signing with the Steelers, and while Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin has said it’s a competition, all signs point to Wilson being the starter in Week 1. After seeing Wilson’s first preseason snaps with the Steelers, that’s not a very exciting proposition.
