Tim Benz: Mike Tomlin hates QB hypotheticals, but this is one he must consider

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin hates hypotheticals. Especially when it comes to the quarterback position. He tells us that every week.

Meanwhile, I love hypotheticals. Especially about the quarterback position. I try to come up with a new one every week.

Sorry, “Coach T.” It’s sorta part of this job.

Here is one to consider. It’s specifically for the segment of the Steelers’ fan base that has convinced itself that Justin Fields should be locked in as the starting quarterback moving forward just because the Steelers are off to a 2-0 start with him under center.

What if the Steelers were 2-0 under Russell Wilson, and Wilson had put up exactly the same numbers as Fields has?

Think about it.

What if Wilson was 2-0 as the starter, but managed only 31 points over two games, settled for six field goals in Week 1, managed just 62 yards of offense during the second half of Week 2, and scored just one touchdown in eight quarters?

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Would we all be praising Wilson for “just getting the job done and winning the game?” Or would we all be calling for Wilson to be benched in favor of Fields because the Steelers were winning in spite of the quarterback?

That’s not so much a hypothetical question as it is a rhetorical one, because I’m pretty sure we all know the answer.

Like most football fan bases, we have an entirely different level of expectation for the backup than we do the starter. We do the conscious-unconscious, intellectual disconnect thing.

Take two quarterbacks. Apply the same numbers and team results to both players. Then come up with entirely different conclusions.

If the starter’s numbers are “X,” then “Y” isn’t good enough. If the backup’s numbers are “X,” then his “Y” is somehow always an A-plus!

That’s what would’ve happened if Wilson had mimicked Fields’ output as the starter. Now we may never know, especially if Tomlin buys into the same narrative as the fans just because the team is winning.

I raise this … umm … “rhetorical hypothetical” to fans for no other reason than to underscore the well-established fact that it’s our inherent human nature to be nothing but filthy hypocrites when it comes to evaluating our favorite NFL team’s QB play.

It’s our God-given right as ticket-buying, TV-viewing, social-media scrolling patrons: Starting QB, bad. Backup QB, good.

End of analysis.

However, I raise this “rhetorical hypothetical” to Tomlin for much more pragmatic reasons.

On Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers, if Fields and the Steelers should win their third game in a row to start 2024 in exactly the same manner that they won the first two, then Tomlin and his staff will have to engage in some very important conversation about what to do at the quarterback position for Week 4 if Wilson is healthy.

They need to ask themselves:

• If they like Fields so much as a starter, why isn’t he being allowed to do more? Why is he only throwing the ball at an average of 6.3 yards per attempt, 23rd in the NFL? Why are his red zone passing attempts (five) 22nd in the league? Why has he only thrown 10 balls deeper than 10 yards over two games (29th in the NFL)? Why has he been allowed to throw only 12 passes beyond the first down marker, even though he has completed eight of them?

• If Fields has such high potential, shouldn’t he be given more kite string to fly the offense? And if the answer to that question is, “No, because if that happens he’ll start committing turnovers,” then why are we even having this conversation in the first place?

• Perhaps most importantly, Tomlin needs to ask himself if 15.5 points per game would be more like 21 or 22 points per game if Wilson was the QB instead of Fields.

How big of a difference is that? Well, 15.5 points per game would’ve been 30th in the NFL last year, ahead of only the Carolina Panthers and New England Patriots at 13.9 apiece. Twenty-two points per game would’ve been 15th, one spot ahead of the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.

So you can’t sustain winning that way. You can’t win with 15.5 points per game.

There’s nothing hypothetical about that.

LISTEN: Tim Benz and Joe Rutter discuss the Steelers’ QB situation, Broderick Jones’ struggles, Troy Fautanu’s rise and Sunday’s game against the Chargers.