If there really is a quarterback competition for the Pittsburgh Steelers, it should still be wide open after Saturday night.
Russell Wilson got his first preseason action with the Steelers after he was held out last week. The offense struggled with Wilson in the game.
The Steelers had four punts and a missed field goal on Wilson’s five drives. Justin Fields took over right before the two-minute warning of the first half. Wilson finished 8-of-10 for 47 yards, and a lot of those yards came on three third-down passes that were well short of first downs. It wasn’t a pretty outing.
Wilson took a couple of third-down sacks. One issue Wilson had with the Broncos was holding the ball too long and taking too many sacks. That will frustrate the Steelers staff if it continues there. Both sacks ruined drives and led to punts.
Fields takes too many sacks as well, but he can at least make up for it by scrambling for big gains. That used to be a big part of Wilson’s game, but it has diminished with age.
In the preseason opener Wilson sat out due to a calf injury suffered early in training camp. Fields played fairly well but a couple of fumbled snaps overshadowed his positive plays. The offense at least moved a bit in that game.
The Steelers did very little against the Bills defense with Wilson in the game. Wilson was content to check it down too often, or he took sacks. Three times on third-and-long he hit a short pass that ended up short of the first-down marker.
Through the Steelers’ first four drives they had 12 net yards, one first down, four punts and didn’t get past their own 34-yard line.
After an interception by Steelers safety Miles Killebrew the offense showed a little life, but not enough. Wilson hit Van Jefferson for an 11-yard gain on third-and-2. A deep pass down the sideline to George Pickens was almost hauled in but he was just out of bounds. On third down it was another pass short of the sticks, but that one got Chris Boswell in better position for a field goal. Boswell missed it though, hitting it off the upright.
Wilson has been the favorite to start since he signed with the Steelers. Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin has called it a competition but all signs have pointed to Wilson being the Week 1 starter. That’s not an exciting proposition after what we saw in Wilson’s first preseason snaps for the Steelers.
