Mike Tomlin had the option to play it safe. He could have kept Justin Fields as his quarterback and continued with the tough, low-scoring games that have been the Pittsburgh Steelers’ style for the last five years.
However, as the NFL’s longest-serving coach, Tomlin felt he hadn’t seen enough from Fields or the offense as a whole.
So, a few days after an easy 19-point win over Las Vegas on October 13 that improved Pittsburgh’s record to 4-2, Tomlin spoke with Fields. He told him it was time to give Russell Wilson, who was now fully healed from a calf injury, a chance to show what he could do.
When asked if it was a difficult conversation, especially since Fields had a strong performance with 10 touchdowns and only one turnover, Tomlin simply shrugged.
“I don’t worry about the difficulty of conversations,” he said at the time. “It’s about whether or not they’re necessary. We’re pursuing big business here. Comfort is not a component of what we’re chasing.”
It seems that settling for less is also not an option.
The NFL’s most stable team is changing, working with a sense of urgency that it may have lacked during a seven-year stretch without a playoff win.
This is why the Steelers made big changes to the quarterback situation in the offseason and why Tomlin decided to try Wilson in mid-October, essentially saying, “Let’s see what you’ve got.”
It turns out, Wilson has more left in him than many expected after his sudden departure from Denver.
The 35-year-old has passed for 542 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions in wins against the New York Jets and New York Giants. The offense gained over 400 yards in both games, which is something the Steelers hadn’t done in consecutive weeks since 2018.
It’s a good start, but Wilson recognized that it’s just that—a start.
“We have great confidence (but) we haven’t done everything yet,” Wilson said. “We’re obviously sitting here at 6-2, which is a great thing, but it doesn’t mean anything.”
Getting to the playoffs hasn’t been a problem for Pittsburgh, which has made it to the postseason in three of the last four years. The issue has been that the Steelers often seem outmatched once they get there, lacking the power to compete with teams like the Bills and Chiefs.
That might be changing in 2024. Pittsburgh has scored 20 points in five of its last six games, something it hasn’t done since starting 11-0 in 2020.
This has eased some pressure on a defense that has known for the last three years that it couldn’t afford to get into high-scoring games.
While cornerback Joey Porter Jr. downplayed the idea that the defense has more freedom than usual—echoing Tomlin’s “the standard is the standard” saying—Pittsburgh’s improved scoring has allowed defensive coordinator Teryl Austin to be more aggressive.
The Steelers are tied for second in the NFL with 15 takeaways, many of which have changed the momentum of games, like T.J. Watt’s strip-sack of Daniel Jones and Beanie Bishop’s game-sealing interception against the Giants. This is part of what outside linebackers coach Denzel Martin calls a turnover “culture.”
There are even T-shirts to go along with it. Coaches will hand them out after Saturday’s practice. They have a color system: one shirt is white, two shirts are gray, and three shirts are black. Watt and Bishop are collecting them more often.
However, not everything is perfect. The Giants rushed for 157 yards against the Steelers, which isn’t great for a team facing a tough second-half schedule that includes four games against Baltimore, Washington, and Philadelphia, three of the best rushing teams in the league.
New York’s strong running game served as a clear reminder of the hard work that still needs to be done.
“I think that’s good to be able to win ‘in spite of’ sometimes,” Austin said. “And so I’m real confident in our group coming back and working our tail off to be better when we line up and play next.”
This approach comes from the top. Tomlin’s message when he changed quarterbacks was clear: Good is no longer good enough.
While Watt and defensive end Cam Heyward—who is now the longest-tenured defensive player in team history—are building strong cases for the Hall of Fame, neither has won a Super Bowl. In fact, Watt is still waiting for his first playoff win.
“We can’t get comfortable because we know that we just got a lot of tough games ahead of us,” outside linebacker Alex Highsmith said. “And so we know our ultimate goal. And so we know we just got to always want to get better and have that championship detail.”
This is something Wilson understands well. He came to Pittsburgh in March looking to revive his career after two disappointing seasons with the Broncos.
It’s early—very early—but his performance so far has confirmed Tomlin’s decision to make changes and may help put Pittsburgh back on track after a tough stretch since reaching the AFC Championship in 2016.
“You want to be on the rise as you go,” Wilson said. “I think we’re on that journey right now. We’re on that train of just continuing to grow. I think that’s an exciting thing for this football team, what we’re doing, how we’re doing it.”
