3-and-get-outta-here! Steelers fans booed Russell Wilson in record time
Mike Tomlin made the controversial decision to start Russell Wilson over Justin Fields on Sunday Night Football against the New York Jets. How did that decision work out for the Pittsburgh Steelers? Not too great.
On three consecutive three-and-outs, Wilson tossed five straight incompletions. The last of those incompletions didn't just disappoint Steelers fans, it incensed them.
If you had four drives before fans in Pittsburgh booed their new starting quarterback, congrats, you won the pool!
It didn't take long for Steelers fans to boo Russell Wilson
It's not hard to see why the fans couldn't help themselves on that one. The throw was pretty terrible and it wasn't the only one. It was also short of the sticks on third down...that's just not something fans want their QB doing.
Wilson did earn back some goodwill on the next drive by heaving a 44-yard completion to George Pickens. That got the crowd going in a far more positive sense.
Wilson found Darnell Washington for an 18-yard gain soon after. That was enough to put Pittsburgh well within field goal range. They ultimately settled for the three after stalling out close to the goal line.
This is a tough spot for everyone involved in the Steelers quarterback controversy. Fields got a lot of people on his side, even if he wasn't perfect. The fans were always going to have a short fuse on Wilson. With Fields sitting on the bench, it would be easy to call for the backup at the first sign of trouble.
That's going to be a tide Wilson has to fight against until he proves himself as a better option. Two field goal drives and three three-and-outs isn't exactly definitive one way or the other.
The early reviews were certainly mixed. It's up to Wilson to determine whether the crowd has more booing or cheering to do.