Finally! Russell Wilson will hold the fort for the Pittsburgh Steelers after sidelining teammate Justin Fields for the QB 1 role. The Steel City announced this on Wednesday, August 28, 2024, after putting their two quarterbacks to test in the final preseason game. However, as they and Wilson move forward towards Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons, Mike Florio has a warning for them.

In a recent episode of Sunday Night Football of NFL on NBC, Mike Florio reacted to the Steelers’ announcement of officially naming Russell Wilson their starting quarterback over Justin Fields. During the show, Florio first praised the team by saying, “I think the Steelers will be better than people realize.” However, he soon moved on from the comment and didn’t miss to give a warning to the franchise, suggesting that there’s always room to fix mistakes. As the Steelers head into the season, they face some tough matchups, including prime-time games before their midseason bye week.

Hence, Florio warned them: “They [the Steelers] have eight games until they’re bye three of the last four pre-bye are standalone Prime Time games at home against the Cowboys week five; at home against the Jets week seven; at the Giants week eight; and then they go into a break. Maybe, if they’re three and five, or two and six at that point, you flip from Russell Wilson to Justin Fields.”

The analyst further continued, “But if you’re four-four or better, ride it out because we know the Steelers get better as the season unfolds.” In addition to that, Florio also pointed out the advantage of starting with Wilson, highlighting how the QB is familiar with many of Pittsburgh’s early opponents. These teams include the Broncos, whom he knows really well, and the Raiders, the team that he faced more often during his time with Denver.

So, yes, it will give an edge to the franchise, but as Florio mentioned, the prime-time games will be challenging in 2024 with the packed schedule. Therefore, it remains to be seen how well Russell Wilson can navigate through all the challenges, leading the team potentially closer to the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, coach Mike Tomlin revealed how grueling it was to select one quarterback of the two.

Why did Mike Tomlin choose Russell Wilson over Justin Fields?

“It was a difficult decision, but not difficult in a negative way, to be quite honest with you. It was difficult in a positive way.” Mike Tomlin said this after announcing that the team is going with Russell Wilson in 2024. The Steelers decided to put Justin Fields and Wilson to the test in the training camps as well as the preseason games. Eventually, after evaluation, the team announced the name of Wilson. But the question is why? Of course, his performance was better, but Fields too gave a tough competition to both the team and his competitor QB.

This is clearly evident from Tomlin’s recent media appearance, when he said, “As we got into camp, it really got competitive. It became evident that the decision was going to be difficult. Justin’s talents are more than I anticipated, particularly his mobility, the things that he can do and create was really exciting. Russ’ deep ball is even more impressive than his reputation, and I’ve seen it for 10-plus years or more toward 15 years in the NFL. To be around it every day, it was really exciting.”

However, at last, they chose Wilson because the 35-year-old appeared to have almost similar mobility as he had in his mid-20s. Additionally, Wilson’s two talents– throwing a great deep ball, and not putting the ball into harm’s way often, have helped him to grab this opportunity over Fields.