DETROIT — Coach Mike Tomlin needed just five snaps from Russell Wilson and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting offense in the final preseason game Saturday.

Although the Steelers lost the game 24-17 to the Detroit Lions, Wilson’s unit scored its first touchdown of the preseason on the quarterback’s lone series. Tomlin then traded Wilson for Justin Fields, who played three series and led a scoring drive of his own behind the first-team offensive line.

“We just needed results that were indicative of how we’ve been operating,” Tomlin said of his decision to remove Wilson after one series. “And so they were able to put together a score and a drive and get Justin in there earlier, and that’s why we did it.”

After Fields left, reserves Kyle Allen and John Rhys Plumlee finished the game, playing more than two and a half quarters. Although preseason game action is complete, Tomlin said he will wait to officially name a starting quarterback, though Wilson’s limited action on Saturday and “pole position” to begin the preseason suggests he is the heavy favorite. The Steelers are one of two teams, along with the New England Patriots, that have not named a starting quarterback for Week 1.

“We’ll make a decision at the end of our work week,” Tomlin said. “This coming week, we’ve got three days of Steelers vs. Steelers work and why wouldn’t we do it then?

“It minimizes the Steelers versus Steelers work if we start making decisions before that’s done. We have plenty of time to prepare for Atlanta and make decisions or announcements regarding divisional labor or pecking orders and things like that, so we do it toward the end of the work week.”

In his final preseason outing, Wilson needed just five plays to lead the offense to the end zone. The quarterback completed both pass attempts for 26 yards, including a 32-yard completion to George Pickens on third-and-11 after the previous pass to the wide receiver had resulted in a loss of 6 yards. Two plays later, running back/wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson found the end zone when he scampered up the middle for a 31-yard touchdown, his lanes opened up thanks to timely blocks by rookie center Zach Frazier and left guard Isaac Seumalo.

“Last week we just didn’t stay on track, and this time we did,” Wilson said. “I think another part of it was, like I told you guys earlier in the week, the best part is being able to celebrate in the end zone with your teammates. I mean, that’s what this game is all about, man, just being able to get there and do that. So we’ve got a lot of work to do and we’ve got to keep our heads down and keep going.”

Wilson played five series a week ago, but the team failed to score and Wilson’s group scored just one-third less. Offensive coordinator Arthur Smith also said afterward that he had intentionally made the play calls for Wilson, specifically limiting the amount of running to protect the quarterback’s calf injury. This time around, however, Wilson said he was less restricted.

“I think we were trying to be strategic last week,” he said. “It was like, OK, the doctors let me play last week and I wanted to play in front of our fans, put on the black jersey and just be out there and be there with my teammates. And so I think this week we can clearly go on the road, our first two games are on the road to be able to do the silent count and do whatever we need to do to get to the end zone.”

Fields replaced Wilson after the opening drive, but the first-team offensive line remained in the game for one series.

“Because I just wanted to have some people around him that could protect him,” Tomlin said, explaining the decision to keep his starting offensive linemen in the game.

“That’s appropriate. You can see I got nervous when we got off some of those groups and I pulled him out of there.”

Working behind the starters, Fields and the offense, consisting largely of second-team skill players like Scotty Miller and La’Mical Perine, put together a six-play, three-minute scoring drive, capped by a Perine touchdown. Fields connected with Van Jefferson for a 5-yard gain on the first play of the drive, and two plays later he hit tight end MyCole Pruitt for a 22-yard play-action pass over the middle to set the unit up at the 2-yard line.

It wasn’t all pretty for Fields, though. He had another fumbled exchange with the center, this time with Zach Frazier on third down on his second series. And he closed out the third series by recording another sack.

“They did a good job, but there’s room to grow,” Fields said of the offensive line. “So we’re just going to look at the mistakes we made and what plays we could have done better and gotten better.”

Still, Tomlin was pleased with the overall work of his quarterbacks during their final chance to plead their case for the starting position.

“They both moved the ball,” Tomlin said of his quarterbacks. “They won possession downs. They were able to get the ball in the end zone. Things we hadn’t done enough of in the preseason.”