The Pittsburgh Steelers improved to 3-0 on the season with a 20-10 win over the Los Angeles Chargers in the Steelers home opener on Sunday afternoon. Quarterback Justin Fields has started the first three games of the 2024 season.
Fields against the Chargers completed 25-of-32 passes for 245 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. He also rushed for six yards on six carries and one touchdown. Justin Fields had a five-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter and a 55-yard passing touchdown to Calvin Austin in the fourth quarter.
NFL Insider Questions How Much Longer Justin Fields Will Be the Starting Quarterback For the Pittsburgh Steelers
There is no doubt that Justin Fields will be the Week 4 starter for Pittsburgh over Russell Wilson. There is no need for head coach Mike Tomlin to make the switch before the Indianapolis Colts matchup. Fields this season has completed 73.3% of his passes for 518 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. He has also rushed for 90 yards on 28 carries and one touchdown, along with averaging 3.2 yards per carry.
Dan Pompei of The Athletic and other members were answering controversial questions after the Sunday Week 3 games of the 2024 NFL season. The most critical question for the Steelers after the win against the Chargers was as follows:
“Do the Steelers have their quarterback in Justin Fields?“
Dan Pompei of The Athletic responded:
“The Steelers have their starting quarterback for their game against the Colts next week because you don’t bench a quarterback who is 3-0 unless the player he’s being replaced with was performing at a much higher level prior to his injury. (That wasn’t the case with Wilson.) But it’s a safe bet that Wilson is going to start games for the Steelers this season, maybe in the not-too-distant future.
It’s also possible Fields will reclaim the starting job at some point. Fields has a history of up and down performances. Maybe he’s becoming more consistent in his fourth season and in a new environment, but that remains to be seen. Unless Fields (or Wilson if he replaces him at some point) is consistently outstanding and the team keeps winning, there will be a possibility of change.”
Pompei still thinks that Fields could be benched at some point in the season for Russell Wilson. If the Pittsburgh Steelers ever did that, it may not go well with the fanbase. Pittsburgh outside of George Pickens lacks outside weapons.
They are very good defensively. Also, Fields is being coached well by offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. Justin Fields looks so much better than he did with the Chicago Bears.
Teams Will Call About Russell Wilson
If Fields is still the Steelers quarterback by the NFL trade deadline, then there will be NFL teams that will call Pittsburgh about Russell Wilson’s status. There is no doubt that there would be a trade market for Wilson.
It would be hard at this point to take Justin Fields out of the lineup at this point unless he got hurt. Fields is 25 years old and Wilson is 35 years old. There is a lot more upside for Justin Fields than Russell Wilson at this point. Entering Week 4, it doesn’t feel like a debate anymore about the Steelers quarterback situation. Fields is the guy moving forward unless something drastically happens.
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