Steelers’ schedule gives Russell Wilson eight games to prove his worth

Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson took advantage of pole position to land the starting job. The race was seemingly closer than expected, as Justin Fields performed well enough in preseason games and practices to force coach Mike Tomlin to think about his options.

Ultimately, Wilson makes sense, for now. He has the experience. He has thrived on a roster with a strong defense and a good running game. He doesn’t have to be Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen, something Wilson might have wanted to become in Denver. Playing within the broader structure of a team that made the playoffs last year without a consistently competent quarterback, Wilson could thrive again.

He doesn’t need to make big plays regularly. He just needs to extend drives with a good decision and a solid pass, as he did on third-and-11 in Detroit, in front of Lions fans who were as loud as they were in the playoffs. He doesn’t need to do it all the time; he needs to do it often enough to allow the Steelers to eventually finish a given game with more points scored than the opponent.

As for opponents, the first half of the schedule gives Wilson a chance to earn the ability to remain a starter down the stretch. With three of the first six games coming against AFC West opponents (teams he knows better than Fields, especially the Broncos in Week 2), Wilson becomes the safer, more sensible option. And with three prime-time games between Week 5 and Week 8 (Cowboys, Jets, at Giants), the Steelers will enter their bye week with eight games played.

If they finish 3-5 or worse, the bye weekend will give them a chance to prepare Fields for the final nine games, which includes (starting in Week 11) their annual six AFC North matchups. And if the Fields package (if that’s what the Steelers use from time to time) is effective, that will give Tomlin more reason to think a trade for the more unstable Fields will make sense after Week 8.

Wilson has the higher floor. While the game looks less exciting with Fields playing quarterback, the offense could be more stable with Wilson. And the Steelers could end up with a 4-4 record or better at the end of the season. If so, Wilson stays for the seven-game season-ending series: Baltimore, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Kansas City and Cincinnati.

Mike Tomlin has never had a losing season. He knows there will be tough times and he knows how to bounce back from them. If the first half of the season has more struggles than successes, Fields will be ready to play, in theory.

If Wilson can leverage Pittsburgh’s defense and running game to more wins than losses (or at least as many wins as losses) through eight games, Wilson will be well-positioned to lead the team through a difficult schedule.

Fields may not like him right now, but the season is long. He’ll likely get a chance, in more than just one-off assignments or gadget plays. The best-case scenario would be for Wilson to go back in time, to his pre-Denver days, and use his experience and remaining skills to take the Steelers farther than they’ve been since Father Time began slowing down Ben Roethsliberger. The worst-case scenario for Wilson could turn out to be the best-case scenario for Fields, giving Pittsburgh what could be, come Week 10, a much-needed boost for yet another effort to stay on the right side of .500 and crash the AFC playoff party.

Whether it’s Wilson or Fields, if/when the postseason comes for Pittsburgh, they’ll be better positioned than in years past to advance past the wild-card round. And if/when they get their first playoff win since 2017, who knows what might happen next?

The season isn’t just a marathon. It’s a triathlon. And the Steelers have two options to help them finish in the top seven of the 16 AFC teams. The safest and smartest option is to give Wilson the first chance. If he doesn’t do well, they’ll have a much better option than Mason Rudolph or Mitchell Trubisky to turn things around during the stretch where every regular-season game will have playoff intensity.