Justin Fields gets his chance with Steelers

This seems like his big opportunity this week.

It looks as if Justin Fields is going to get an opportunity to start his third consecutive game for the Pittsburgh Steelers in their home opener on Sunday afternoon against the Los Angeles Chargers. Russell Wilson is still working his way back from a calf injury, and even though he dressed as the emergency quarterback this past Sunday there does not seem to be any rush to get him back on the field until he is completely 100 percent healthy.

That is the correct move, not only for the Steelers, but for Wilson himself.

He is 35 years old and if he goes out there with a calf injury he is not going to be as effective as he needs to be, and that does not even get into the risks for him in terms of the injury itself. The benefit of having two pretty equal quarterbacks is that it gives you flexibility in situations like this without much drop. The problem with this situation is that neither quarterback is really the player you want or need to seriously compete for a Super Bowl.

Having that said that, this still seems like it is a huge opportunity for Fields to take control of the starting job and give head coach Mike Tomlin something to think about when Wilson is ready to return.

The Steelers are 2-0 through their first two games. Fields has played mostly mistake-free football to this point and made enough plays and throws to make you raise your eyebrows a little bit, even if some of them did not count because of penalties. He has done everything that has been asked.

Yes, the Steelers have just one touchdown in two games. Yes, that is a concern. No, winning this way is not sustainable over a 17-game season and through the playoffs when you will inevitably have to play better teams that are capable of scoring more points. But I still think a lot of that is due to some of the circumstances around the offense, the opponents and the league itself.

If Fields can lead them to another win on Sunday and generate a couple of touchdown drives, it might be worth pondering if that is enough for him to take over the starting job.

Let’s talk about it.