Everybody and their cousin have offered a take on the Pittsburgh Steelers changing from Justin Fields, who led the team to a 4-2 start, to Russell Wilson. But it means a little bit more coming from the Hall of Fame, former head coach of the franchise. That’s right, it’s time for Bill Cowher’s take.
While many have been hitting the panic button on this move, Cowher understands the approach.
“Well, I think number one, one thing I’ll say that’s taken place there, there’s been total transparency. I think, as you can see from Justin’s standpoint, he understands why the decision was made,” Cowher said via CBS Sports’ That Other Pregame Show in a clip posted on X. “I think it also goes back to the point that I think coming out of training camp, they felt very good about Russell being the starter. He is back healthy right now, and I think that they, like they said, they got identity on offense, which was they got a good four-minute offense, you can run the ball, play-action, and everything off that.
“They opened it up last week, and I think right now to get Russell to see what the max is and what the top end of this offense is, they wanna put him in charge…At some point, he’s gotta play, okay? And he’s gonna play at home, and he’s gonna be going against the New York Jets. I understand their defense. Is there ever a good time? I think they’re very comfortable with this decision. I like the transparency, and I’m okay with it.”
He makes a lot of good points. Obviously, it is odd for the Steelers to move on from a quarterback who is 4-2, and I get where a lot of people are coming from with the fact that he is a decade younger and has more long-term potential for the franchise. But the Steelers are always about winning now. They named Wilson the starter coming out of training camp for a reason. They believe he can elevate the offense and be the best option right now.
Mike Tomlin has talked about having a short sight and not worrying about the future or the past. I’m paraphrasing, but he says his guys work too hard for him to be worried about anything other than winning now. That is how the Steelers are wired. This move is absolutely a gamble, but the offense simply hasn’t been good enough. They haven’t really given games away with big mistakes, but they also haven’t really been the reason the team has won any of the four games. At a certain point, the offense must create the spark rather than ride the wave of the defense and special teams.
The hope is that Wilson can get George Pickens and the other receivers, who have barely done anything this season, much more involved. If they can have an efficient and threatening passing attack, it will open up room for their intended identity of ground-and-pound football to work. Currently, teams are packing the box because the passing success was too inconsistent to respect.
The Steelers can always go back to Fields, and they will likely use him in limited packages for the time being, but I would imagine Wilson gets the next two games at a minimum to try to prove Mike Tomlin right with his decision.
