Prior to being acquired by the Pittsburgh Steelers in a trade, Justin Fields was the starting quarterback for the Chicago Bears for three seasons. The Bears didn’t have a great supporting cast around him for much of his tenure there, so he never quite developed into the franchise quarterback that the Bears envisioned when they selected him with the 11th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Regardless of the Bears’ success, Fields showed flashes of being a special talent. He has elite athleticism for the position and is a threat to break a big play with his legs on any given snap. In addition to his athleticism, he has the arm talent to push the ball down the field. For Lions head coach Dan Campbell, he is relieved to not have to worry about game planning against Fields twice a year any longer.
“I’m not gonna lie, it’s nice to have Fields out of that division,” Campbell said during a media session at the owners meetings in Orlando.
In three seasons, Fields played against the Lions five times. He was inactive for one of those games with multiple cracked ribs suffered in the week prior. Over those five games, Fields went 2-3 including a win in Week 14 of last season as the Lions were trying to secure a first-round bye in a tight race for the first seed in the NFC.
Over the course of those five games, Fields completed 65 passes on 114 attempts for 843 yards, five touchdowns, and three interceptions. He also chipped in another 450 rushing yards on 56 carries for another three touchdowns. The passing totals alone over five games aren’t anything special, but he was responsible for 1,293 yards of total offense and eight touchdowns in five games. That is 258.6 yards and 1.6 scores per game.
His single best game against the Lions came in Week 10 of the 2022 season when he accounted for 314 yards of total offense and four touchdowns, including two on the ground.
Unless the two teams meet in the Super Bowl, Campbell won’t have to worry about Fields in 2024 with the Steelers and Lions not scheduled to play each other. He will have to worry about the first overall pick in the draft which is expected to be USC QB Caleb Williams, which is the reason the Bears felt comfortable getting rid of Fields in the first place.
For the Steelers, Fields will enter the season as the backup, as head coach Mike Tomlin made it clear Russell Wilson is in “pole position.” That doesn’t mean he won’t get a chance to compete, and even if he is the backup, the Steelers could draw up some specialized packages to put Fields’ unique skill set to use in the meantime.
