Quarterback Quandaries and Defensive Disasters: Steelers & Cowboys Face the Heat | NFL MAILBAG
Quarterback Quandaries and Defensive Disasters: Steelers & Cowboys Face the Heat | NFL MAILBAG
As Pittsburgh mulls a Fields-Wilson swap and Dallas struggles with a battered defense, two of the NFL's biggest names are at a crossroads.
We’re about to learn a lot about the contenders and the pretenders on the opposite side of the spectrum during what may be the strongest slate of NFL games this entire season.
The Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions square off in a litmus test for both teams, both how Sam Darnold and Minnesota’s offense potentially fares in a rock-fight, as well as whether Detroit can overcome the loss of All-Pro game-wrecking pass rusher Aidan Huchinson.
We get a Super Bowl rematch as Patrick Mahomes looks to will an offense with a patchwork receiving corps over a suddenly resurgent 49ers’ defense that seems to be finding a groove.
Likewise, the Green Bay Packers and Houston Texans are in a lot of ways mirror images of each other from a roster construction standpoint with both franchises built around a young quarterback they have surrounded with elite playmaking weapons and swarming defenses.
Then there’s Monday night’s showdown between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Baltimore Ravens which feature two playoff caliber rosters.
Before we get to what promises to be a thrilling and revelatory NFL Sunday, it’s time to open up the Football Friday Mailbag and answer your biggest questions emerging from the first six weeks of the season!
Inside, multiple league sources and pro personnel scouts lend their insight on whether the Dallas Cowboys’ flaws on defense are merely tied to a barrage of injuries and whether they’re fixable, plus an update on the running back trade market, including whether the San Francisco 49ers are actively involved while waiting for Christian McCaffrey to return.
Let’s get after it …
Are the Steelers going to do Justin Fields dirty this week for a washed up Russell Wilson? If they do, will Fields play enough snaps for the Bears to get the Steelers’ fourth-rounder? (Krichy9 on Threads)
The signs certainly seem to be pointing to Mike Tomlin making the switch from Fields to Wilson on Sunday.
After all, NFL teams don’t give backup quarterbacks a single first-team practice rep during the week, and Wilson is getting some run with the starting offense during practice this week.
Fields has been a mixed bag, but his mobility seems to have thrown offensive coordinator Arthur Smith’s playbook wide open and been a catalyst for the Steelers’ 4-2 start.
“It’s a Bad move,” an AFC Scouting Director tells me, on the condition of anonymity to speak freely about another team. “They want bigger passing game which i understand, but the Steelers have a very limited passing attack because if their options at receiver.”
Through six games, Fields is completing 66.3 percent of his passes for 1,106 yards with five touchdowns to just one interception while adding 231 rushing yards and five more scores.
“Also the move to Wilson could alienate the team because players like fields,” the executive cautions.
If we’re being honest, this is one of the more limited Pittsburgh Steelers offenses, even by Pittsburgh Steelers standards that we have seen during the Tomlin era.
Star wide receiver George Pickens doesn’t seem nearly as motivated as his “Always Fucking Open” eyeblack during the Steelers’ Week 5 loss to the Dallas Cowboys might indicate, especially watching him hardly go full speed on a number of routes.