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00:00The Pittsburgh Steelers seem to be at a crossroad, Joe Lisi, four and two on the season.
00:09Let's set the table once again.
00:11In the all-season, Mike Tomlin said, over my dead body is Justin Fields ever going to
00:15be a starting quarterback here for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
00:17No, he actually didn't say that.
00:19I'm just paraphrasing here.
00:20But he wanted Russell Wilson to be that starter quarterback.
00:24Day one in the NFL, Joe Lisi was right.
00:26It was Justin Fields.
00:27Because why?
00:28Russell Wilson's calf injury would not allow him to play over the first month of the season.
00:32He is ready now.
00:33He is practicing.
00:34He is expected to take first team reps this week.
00:37So let's start here.
00:39Does Justin Fields start this weekend or is it Russell Wilson, Joe?
00:45I think it's still Justin Fields.
00:48And I know Mike Tomlin came out and made some mention about Russell Wilson.
00:52I'll just say this, Donnie.
00:54I understand from a passing perspective, Justin Fields isn't Pat Mahomes.
00:59He's not Joe Burrow.
01:00He might not even be Jalen Hurts.
01:02But the guy wins games.
01:03He's four and two overall, has won three road games for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
01:08He's won over the locker room, battle-tested.
01:11And he brings an added dimension that Russell Wilson does not give that offense.
01:16And that's the ability in regards to the RPO game to take games over.
01:20He did have 50-plus yards again on the ground.
01:23Two touchdowns.
01:24They win and put up 30 points in that victory against Las Vegas this past weekend.
01:29And now you're going to turn to Russell Wilson.
01:31I just don't see it.
01:33And if they do do that, and the Pittsburgh Steelers, let's say, lose two games back-to-back,
01:38what happens to the locker room and what happens to the continuity then?
01:43Here's what we're looking at from the Steelers, because I'm not here to actually slander Justin
01:47Fields.
01:48If you tell somebody, like, hey, you're supposed to be the backup, and the backup's only role
01:51for me is, when you play, give us a chance to win football games.
01:55He absolutely did that.
01:56Was the competition fantastic?
01:58Not necessarily, but that's out of the equation.
02:00You only play who's on your roster.
02:01Ten total touchdowns, one interceptions.
02:03I like that.
02:04He has fumbled quite a bit, yes.
02:05But for me, the best version of the Pittsburgh Steelers would come with Russell Wilson as
02:10their passing game guy.
02:11Now, I also want to say, this doesn't mean as we—he's going to be Patrick Mahomes.
02:14Hey, Russell, what's going to start this weekend?
02:16Joe, 30 for 40, 355 yards and four touchdowns.
02:19No.
02:20It's going to be, like, the passing game ease, where it's like, just hit the play point
02:24guard.
02:25That's what I want to talk about.
02:26Hit the seven-yard pass.
02:27Hit the 10-yard pass.
02:28The 15-yard intermittent route.
02:29But also, this doesn't mean that Justin Fields goes to the bench, is never to be seen again.
02:34He can be such an integral part of this team moving forward, because he is electric in
02:38short yards.
02:39He can be Taysom Hill times three in the red zone, passing and running.
02:44There is a place for him.
02:45I just think the Steelers, the version of themselves where they expect to make the playoffs
02:49and possibly win a game or two, I just think Russell Wilson gives them the best chance
02:53to actually do that, Joe.
02:55See, that's what Tomlin believes, and I disagree, Donnie, and this is where we could talk it
03:00out is, yes, you're right in regards to the passing game, right?
03:05Maybe Russell Wilson is a better facilitator of the football.
03:08He could go through the passing tree a little bit better and know where he has to go in
03:13terms of the options, you know, wide receiver one, two, depending upon the routes.
03:17The thing and the attribute that you don't get with Russell Wilson, especially now, later
03:23in his career, is that if the pocket does break down, can he take it off and run the
03:28way Justin Fields has done in multiple games and then still keep his eyes down the field
03:33and hit a wide open wide receiver?
03:36You know, that is something that we're not really taking into account.
03:41And then here's the other thing.
03:42All right.
03:43You realize, according to your philosophy, Russell Wilson for 80 percent of the snaps
03:48and 20 percent, let's say, will give, you know, Justin Fields.
03:51Now you're one dimensional.
03:53Once Justin Fields comes in, you know he's getting the football in the RPO game.
03:57That really cuts down his ability to really keep the defense guessing.
04:02So that's the other attribute.
04:03And I'll go back to this.
04:05He's won four games, three on the road.
04:08That's something that can't be taken lightly, especially if you're making a playoff run.