Justin Fields’ poor stats shouldn’t stop Mike Tomlin from gluing Russell Wilson to bench

The Pittsburgh Steelers have had quite the quarterback problem ever since their Hall of Fame QB, Ben Roethlisberger suffered an arm injury five years ago. They have battled through quarterbacks like Mason Rudolph, Devlin Hodges, Kenny Pickett and a few others.

This offseason, they made the switch from Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph to Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. The understanding was that Wilson would start and Fields would back him up. If something went wrong, Fields could step in because the Steelers still believed in his ability.

But Wilson suffered an injury with a few setbacks leading up to Week 1. This gave Fields the opportunity to start in Pittsburgh's first two games. After two weeks, Pittsburgh is 2-0 and it's going to be really tough for Mike Tomlin to pick a quarterback when Wilson returns fully healthy.

Poor stats don't tell the fully story to Justin Fields, Pittsburgh's 2-0 start

Fields has received some backlash for his performance, despite pulling out two wins to begin his career in Pittsburgh. Through two games, Fields has 273 passing yards, a touchdown, no interceptions and 84 yards on the ground. They're not really the kind of stats that scream franchise quarterback.

NFL reporter, Aditi Kinkhabwala, recently made a post on X/Twitter where she voiced her opinion on Fields' start to the season. This is what she had to say:

"Justin Fields’ two games as the starter are about way more than just the stats we see today. He’s played smart situational football, he’s executed the plan his coaches have laid out and even as he’s desperate to win this job, he hasn’t gotten greedy. He had some tremendous throws negated by penalty yesterday, he showed calming leadership on the sideline and Mike Tomlin told us not only does he love Fields’ demeanor, but that he is “a dangerous, dangerous athlete.” An interesting decision lies ahead."

The negated plays are definitely something to look at. Fields has delivered a few really good throws down the field that have been negated by penalties. Most notably, a 50-yard completion to George Pickens that Fields made on the run with pressure in his face. It was negated by a hold. He also had a touchdown called back on a questionable penalty.

The point is, yes, these plays don't count. They wouldn't count for anybody. But they are plays that he's making. It's the fact that he's showing the ability to make a play like this that matters. It's the fact that these plays can happen and in the future, they will happen.

He's following the gameplan that the coaching staff is giving him. Fields isn't turning the ball over and he's winning football games. Pittsburgh has been playing with a lead for nearly the entire season so far, so there's really no reason that Fields should be taking the huge risks that result in the big stats.