The Pittsburgh Steelers finished their preseason with a 24-17 loss to the Detroit Lions Saturday. The next time they take the field, it will be for their season opener on the road against the Atlanta Falcons. Head coach Mike Tomlin will name his starting quarterback well before that game, but he is not ready to declare a winner in the duel between Russell Wilson and Justin Fields.

At this point, it seems quite likely that Wilson will get the nod from the long-time Steelers head coach. Both Wilson and Fields were acquired by the Steelers in the offseason, and Tomlin said that Wilson was going to be the starter and Fields would be the backup. There was nothing that has happened in training camp that would change that assessment.

Tomlin is likely to name his starting quarterback before the end of next week, according to beat writer Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com

Both quarterbacks played in the preseason finale against the Lions and both led touchdown drives. However, the team responded brilliantly to Wilson as he led a five-play, 60-yard drive that culminated with a 31-yard touchdown run by Cordarrelle Patterson.

During that drive, Wilson completed both of his passes for 26 yards. That was his only drive of the game, but it was all that he needed to show off his skills to Tomlin and the coaching staff. One of his completions was a 32-yarder to wide receiver George Pickens on a third-and-11 play.

Fields was also effective when he was in the game, as he completed 3 of 4 passes for 40 yards. He also had a pair of carries for 4 yards. The former Bears quarterback was under center for three series against the Lions before Tomlin took him out of the game

Steelers wanted to give their starters some action

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While most teams tend to rest their starters in the final preseason game because of a fear of injuries, Tomlin is not in that category.

He was certainly not reckless with his deployment, as he said he wanted to let his starters get rid of the rust and then pull them. Sitting Wilson after one series while letting Fields stay on the field for three indicates that Wilson is likely to get the nod as the team's QB1.

The Steelers were 0-3 in the preseason, but Wilson said the team is confident about its ability to perform on offense.

“We knew that we were able to do that,” Wilson told the media after the game, per Mike DeFabo of The Athletic. “We’ve had a really great training camp and OTAs and all of that. We finally put it on the field under the lights.”