THE Pittsburgh Steelers have been one of the best stories in the NFL during the 2024 season. Many pundits in the media before the season predicted that this season would be when Mike TomlinPittsburgh’s streak of winning seasons was going to end, but Pittsburgh seems to be rolling along lately. The quarterback situation in Pittsburgh was a big talking point before the season, and the Steelers added fuel to the fire when Justin Fields started the first six games of the year while injured Russell Wilson.

Fields played well in the first six games of the year. He led the Steelers to a 4-2 record and took care of the football while scoring 10 touchdowns. Many fans wanted him to remain the starting quarterback for the remainder of the season, but Tomlin opted to move on to Wilson once he was fully healthy.

It was certainly the right decision and it paid off for Pittsburgh, but it was questionable at the time. NFL insider James Palmer was on Steve Smith Sr.’s. podcastand he shared that Tomlin continually let Wilson know it was his team early in the year.

“I was talking to one of (Wilson’s) old teammates the other day who said, ‘I still talk to Russ every day. We text every day,'” Palmer said. “He said, ‘You know what Russ needed? Russ needed a head coach who believed in him.’ He said, “Sean Payton didn’t believe in himself at all. You know what Mike Tomlin did? Mike Tomlin told him the whole time Justin Fields was playing.

It would have been very easy for Wilson to get depressed and give up on the season once Fields started playing well, but he knew he would take over the reins of the offense once he was fully healthy. Wilson never lost confidence because of the way Tomlin handled the situation. This is where things went wrong while Wilson was with the Denver Broncos. Sean Payton belittled him and he knew before accepting the coaching job in 2023 that he didn’t want Wilson to be his quarterback.

Wilson’s play surprised a lot of people, especially after two questionable seasons with the Broncos. It was clear that Wilson wasn’t ready to succeed while he was in Denver, and coming to Pittsburgh had to be a breath of fresh air for the veteran quarterback. In three starts, Wilson threw for 737 yards and six touchdowns with just one interception, which is the best quarterback play Pittsburgh has had since Ben Roethlisberger.

Fields and Wilson appear to have a great relationship, even though Wilson takes Fields’ job after six games. The two quarterbacks I wanted to play together, and the fourth-year quarterback is learning from Wilson, which should prepare him well for the rest of his career.

Steelers’ Russell Wilson could put Pittsburgh in a tough spot

Wilson is only signed through the end of the 2024 season, and if he continues to play like he has, he will likely get another contract in Pittsburgh. This could be tricky for the organization since Wilson will turn 36 at the end of November, and that’s always risky to recruit older players to big business.

The quarterback also wants to win at the end of his career, so it will be interesting to see if he works out a friendly deal so Pittsburgh can stay out of trouble for the foreseeable future. However, if Wilson continues to play like this, he could earn a big payday.