Overreaction Monday: Justin Fields put Russell Wilson out of a job with 2-0 record

It does not matter that the Pittsburgh Steelers' two wins on the season came over the Atlanta Falcons and the Denver Broncos. Justin Fields is this team's starting quarterback, and not Russell Wilson. It was a stupid dog and pony show all offseason long when the truth was staring us right in the face. Fields is an ascending player, while Wilson is hoping he still has something left in the tank at 35 now.

In theory, Wilson may have a firmer grasp of Arthur Smith's ground-centric offense in Pittsburgh, but we need to give Fields his due. He is not a rookie, as this is his fourth NFL season out of Ohio State. Fields had been the Chicago Bears' franchise quarterback prior to the team having a great shot at drafting Caleb Williams No. 1 overall, which they did because the Carolina Panthers are beyond bad.

To me, the Steelers have the right defensive-minded culture to potentially build something somewhat sustainable under Fields. Again, Smith did not draft either of them. The Steelers are paying Wilson a shade over $1 million for this season, while the Steelers did give up a conditional pick to the Bears for Fields. I just keep going back to the consequences of going back to Wilson whenever he is healthy.

Truth be told, I don't think the Steelers beat Atlanta in Atlanta if Wilson was the starting quarterback.

Justin Fields must remain the Pittsburgh Steelers' starting quarterback

Even though it is nearly impossible to quantify, momentum is a very real thing in football, and in most sports, to be honest. Sticking with the hot hand has usually served a team in the end. There may be a finite ceiling to going in that direction, but we have seen Brock Purdy take Trey Lance's job, as well as Dak Prescott sending Tony Romo into early retirement to put in no preparation before calling games.

While Smith may have passed on Fields with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft when he was the head coach of the Falcons, keep in mind that Atlanta still had a borderline hall-of-famer under center in Matt Ryan. Fields may have been an Atlanta area native, but he might be the most overlooked former five-star coming out of high school I can ever remember. He plays with a big chip.

Overall, the Steelers owe nothing to Wilson to even think about shamelessly pandering to him. I don't think him looking better than Fields in practice should afford him the opportunity of assuming the No. 1 spot on Pittsburgh's quarterbacking depth chart. However, should Fields fall apart at the seams during a future game down the road for Pittsburgh, then I would have no problem putting Wilson in.

While I have gotten a ton wrong about the NFL so far this season, I was so right on Fields over Wilson!