The date is Saturday, October 19, 2024, at 4pm central time. If you are reading this, it means I am already dead.

No, sorry, my apologies. I didn’t mean to alarm you there. I am fine.

I wanted to write an opinion article on this game against the Jets and the extraordinary situation leading up to it before it has a chance to corrupt my thoughts, and then write part two of the article after it is over to see how my opinions have changed, and if I was even close to getting anything right.

It’s my version of Mike Tomlin throwing the challenge flag, and now I’m impatiently waiting on the replay booth to decide if I will win it or not. By my clock, that will be roughly 32 hours from now, which feels fairly close to how long an actual booth review takes in game.

Much like Tomlin’s penchant for throwing challenge flags when he should not and keeping the flag in his pocket when he should be letting it fly, I am in doubt of his potential decision to make a change at quarterback this week. I believe the overall team situation should be the determining factor in game strategy, and not if the designated starter before the season is now healthy enough to play.

First things first. I feel somewhat qualified to speak on this because I watched every snap that both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields took last year for previous articles. It was not fun, and I do not recommend it. Based on last year’s play alone, Rusell Wilson was by far the better QB. He was accurate, consistent, and played hard despite having a head coach that hated him. He still had excellent foot speed with quickness in the pocket and delivered a catchable ball that allowed receivers to run after the catch. Russell Wilson beat Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes, and how long has it been since a Steelers QB could make that claim?

Justin Fields did not show those qualities on his tape from 2023. He made some spectacular plays, but they were few and far between, sprinkled in-between missed throws, bad sacks, and fumbles. His play this year with the Steelers has been far, far better than anything he did with the Bears last season. It has been stunning to see his improvement, and it is evident that Justin has been working hard and taken every coaching instruction.

Based on those two observations, one would think I would be advocating for the switch. While I do think it would be advantageous to see what Russell can do this season at some point, I do not think it is wise for it to be this game. Football is a team sport more so than any other, and there are many factors in play here other than the signal caller. Also like in boxing where styles make fights, the style of this game seems to be more suited for Justin Fields and his skill set.

My reasoning for Fields over Wilson in this game starts with the offensive line. It’s more dangerous to be a lineman for the Steelers this year than it is to be a drummer for the band Spinal Tap. Now that Zach Frazier is out, it means yet another lineup change. Having a quarterback that can rush for big gains seems like it would be especially important. The Jets also struggled recently to keep Josh Allen in the pocket, and he broke contain for chunk yardage plays. The Jets are stout up the middle, but they are a bit slow on the edges, and Fields would be a match-up nightmare for them. The Jets strength is their secondary, so Wilson and a more open passing attack would be playing into their hands.

On the other side of the ball, while Aaron Rodgers has become that crazy old man that you would not trust to leave in care of your children lest you find them in a desert yurt gooned out of their mind on mushrooms asking if you too can see the giant chicken by the cactus, he can still sling the ball. Justin Fields has been excellent at time of possession, and a grind it out ugly ball control game limiting how many times Rodgers gets a chance to find some old magic would seem to be the best way to win in typical Tomlin fashion.

There is also talk of Wilson starting and having a goal to go package for Justin Fields, but then we are getting into “blinking red light” territory again as we had last year with Canada’s offense. If they do that, I hope the coaching staff recognizes that Fields will need options to pass and not just be telling the entire world it is a designed QB run play.

As I write this, the starting quarterback announcement still has not been made official. If I were in Mike Tomlin’s position, this is not the game where I would make a change. The matchup favors Fields, and while he hasn’t played so well as to lock down the starting position, he has earned a chance to show what he can do against a particularly good Jets defense. Does this mean that Russell Wilson would result in a loss for the team? No, not necessarily. Wilson is a veteran and is capable of leading the team to a win. Given the offensive line, the struggles of George Pickens recently, and the lack of outside speed on the Jet’s defensive line, it just plays to the strengths of Justin Fields, in my humble opinion.

I’ll see you on the flip side for part two of this article. If I were a betting man, I’d be writing this on a public library computer, because I would not be able to afford my own laptop. So…my confidence of being right is not particularly high, despite my best use of logic and film breakdown. That’s half the fun of these games, being wrong and surprised at the outcome, unless there is actual money riding on being right. All I really want is for whoever is playing quarterback to be successful and come away with a victory on Sunday night, because a loss stings even more when I stay up past my bedtime to witness it. Looking at you, Dallas game. I will be ecstatic if Wilson gets the start and they light it up, and my next article is just detailing how wrong I was in this one. Only time will tell…32 long hours from now.