Here's why Mike Tomlin starting Russell Wilson was a genius idea

The Pittsburgh Steelers started Russell Wilson in their Week 7 win over the New York Jets, and the move to play Wilson was actually a genius idea. Pittsburgh eclipsed the 20-point mark just three times across their first six games with Justin Fields under center, and in Wilson's first start of the 2024 NFL Season against the New York Jets, they put up a season-high 37 points.

This past offseason, the Steelers made two moves to try and improve their QB room. They traded for Justin Fields, formerly of the Chicago Bears, and signed Russell Wilson, who was a free agent after two failed seasons with the Denver Broncos. Everyone knows that neither Wilson nor Fields are long-term answers for Pittsburgh, but most argued that the two QBs were upgrades over what they had last season.

An offseason calf injury kept Wilson out of the lineup for the first chunk of the season, but Fields was able to come in and not play like a total disaster, helping the Steelers to a 4-2 start. But last week, the momentum was shifting toward Russell Wilson getting his first start for Pittsburgh, and he played quite well, especially in the second half.

Being that Wilson was going to start for the team to open up the season, it's clear that Mike Tomlin wanted to see what he had in Wilson, if anything. The move to start him was actually genius, as Wilson will make his second start in Week 8, at home, against the lowly New York Giants, before the Steelers hit their bye week in Week 9.

Their bye week would allow the offensive staff to evaluate Wilson over the last two games and compare that with Fields from the first six. Wilson will also get two starts at home against bad teams, so it's kind of an advantageous spot for him to be in. Furthermore, Tomlin probably knew that his team would have been able to beat the New York Jets and will also be able to beat the New York Giants, so he probably assumes that giving Wilson some starts isn't going to impact the team much.

Their Week 7 and Week 8 home games against the Jets and the Giants are arguably the easiest stretch of games they have had the entire season and probably will have, so this could have presented Mike Tomlin with an opening to see what he had in Russell Wilson.