The Pittsburgh Steelers' 2024 campaign was in many ways defined by one decision: Mike Tomlin going with Russell Wilson instead of Justin Fields down the stretch of the year.
Fields started the first six games of the year with Wilson sidelined due to a calf injury, leading Pittsburgh to a 4-2 start. He was then benched for the more veteran option in Wilson starting in Week 7. Wilson helped keep the good times rolling for a few months but completely fell apart in December along with the rest of the team when the Steelers suffered a four-game losing streak to end the season. Tomlin stuck to his guns despite the slide and entered the postseason with Wilson under center, resulting in a 28-14 defeat at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens in the wild-card round.
It turns out not everybody in the organization was on board with standing behind Wilson, as reported by Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer on the Bill Simmons Podcast.
"I think people there would tell you that the Russell Wilson thing undermines so many things in the last month of the season and that a lot of that building really wanted them to go back to Justin Fields," Breer said. "And it was something where Tomlin was kind of, again, all on his own on that one."
It is easy to look back months later and question the decision, but Tomlin's firm stance clearly played a big role in how Pittsburgh's season ended. Fields has his well-documented issues as a pocket passer and the offense wasn't exactly humming when he was under center. But his dual-threat nature would at least shake things up, and by the end of the year Wilson was clearly holding the team back.
It seemed questionable at the time from an outside view to not even give Fields a shot late in the season. Apparently, some felt that way inside the building, too.
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