Last week, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin shook up Steelers Nation when he hinted that change was coming at the quarterback position despite the team going 4-2 with Justin Fields as its starting QB.
Even with Davante Adams being traded to the Jets and Amari Cooper going to Buffalo, all eyes were on Pittsburgh and the heat was put directly on Tomlin’s back for making a switch that many thought was unfair and wrong (including me. But it wasn’t a shot at Russ but rather that Fields deserved his place).
On Sunday night, Tomlin showed why he’s one of the greatest to ever coach in the NFL and we’re all just fans with opinions.
After a slow start, fans became restless. But then Russ shook off the rust and began to cook.
In the second half, Wilson morphed into prime Russ when he led the Seahawks to the Super Bowl in 2013 and 2014.
It started with a big throw to George Pickens. Two plays later, he hit Pat Freiermuth after avoiding a sack and the tight end rumbled down the field for a big gain.
Russ continued to throw deep to Pickens, and thanks to his amazing catches, the Steelers kept driving and scoring.
At the end of the game, Russ led the team to 37 points while the defense held Rodgers and the Jets to the same 15 points they had at halftime.
And while most media outlets this morning are focusing on what went wrong for the Jets, Rodgers and Adams, the attention should really be on the Steelers and coach Tomlin’s continued greatness.
Tomlin made it clear that he took sole responsibility for inserting Russ into the starting lineup and was more than happy to face criticism for creating a QB controversy.
“I wear the decision,” said Tomlin on Friday.
And while it didn’t appear to be a good decision early on, especially as the chants for Justin Fields started to get louder, Tomlin’s conviction never wavered. In the end, he was rewarded for his belief in Wilson with a big win in primetime.
“I thought (Wilson) was excellent,” Tomlin said. “I thought he got better as the game went on. But I’m not surprised by that. It’s been a while since he’s played some ball. But I thought he settled in, knocked the rust off and distributed the ball around.”
Distributing the ball around is just what Wilson did, getting multiple receivers involved, including the Steelers’ big tight Darnell Washington, who has been a criminally underutilized player in his two seasons with the team.
Wilson went 16-29 for 264 yards passing and 3 total TDs. Pickens, his favorite target, had 5 catches for 111 yards and 1 TD. Meanwhile, Rodgers went 24-39 for 276 yards with 1 TD and 2 INTs while Adams had only 3 catches for 30 yards.
While it’s only one game, and a game against a team that was 2-4 entering the game, it’s another notch in Tomlin’s belt, who’s often given more critiques than praise.
He’s never won the Coach of the Year award despite having four 12-win seasons and one 13-win season.
Some try to diminish the fact that he’s never had a losing season in his eighteen-year head coaching career with Pittsburgh, something that neither Chuck Noll nor Bill Cowher, the team’s other two Hall of Fame coaches, can claim. But those fans don’t understand just how hard and significant that is.
Those fans should ask the Panthers how they feel right now.
Tomlin has often done more with less than other coaches who often get more of the spotlight. He’s had QBs like Duck Hodges, Mason Rudolph and Mitch Trubisky and still managed to post winning seasons and playoff appearances.
Last year, some started calling for him to be fired despite a 10-7 record and a playoff appearance with the latter two QBs mentioned above.
Every time he faces adversity, Tomlin coaches his way through it, showing why the team signed him to multi-year extensions twice over the past three years.
On Sunday night, Tomlin backed up his “lone wolf” decision with a decisive win over a team that is getting more media attention for losing than the Steelers are for winning.
Knowing Tomlin, he’s fine with that and is already preparing for the Giants.
