Justin Fields got plenty of time to take center stage for the Pittsburgh Steelers for the past several weeks. Because of Russell Wilson’s calf injury, Fields took the vast majority of first-team snaps, Wilson only back full recently. Even local reporters acknowledge that he has opened some eyes—including their own.
Yet we can’t ignore the fact that the Steelers have only scored three points during Justin Fields’ playing time. At this point, he has probably played close to a full game, including much of last night’s 9-3 loss to the Buffalo Bills. If he wants to steal the Steelers’ starting quarterback job from Russell Wilson, he knows he needs to show more. Speaking to reporters after the game, he laid out his goals for the final preseason game.
“I just want to show cleanliness. I want to put drives together and end it with points”, Fields said, via the Steelers’ website. “We had some long drives, we converted on some third downs, we got into the red zone a couple of times. But I think next week we’ve just got to end those with touchdowns and points. And that’s the biggest thing. You can have however many yards and do this and do that, but if you don’t end the drive with points, none of it matters. So just score touchdowns, I think that’s the biggest thing”.
In his second preseason game, Fields went 11-for-17 passing for 92 yards. He did not throw a touchdown or an interception, though he put some passes in harm’s way. He also misfired on one deep shot, though WR T.J. Luther should have done more—like not start jogging.
In addition to his 17 pass attempts—averaging 5.4 yards per attempt—Fields rushed for 42 yards on eight attempts. Those eight attempts included a mixture of designed runs, quarterback keepers, and effective scrambles. While he had one 20-yard highlight run, he also managed a third-down conversion after escaping a sack.
One thing the Steelers didn’t do with Justin Fields last night was botch the quarterback-center exchange. He and C Nate Herbig couldn’t connect on two snaps in the preseason opener, but last night was clean. That is part of the “cleanliness” that Fields obviously references, rookie Zach Frazier doing his job there.
But the big thing, as always, is the points. Even in the preseason, Fields knows he needs to bring the Steelers into the end zone. In the first preseason game, they stalled in the red zone, ailing to convert on fourth down. They had the same issue last night late in the third quarter, facing 4th and 2 from the Bills’ 9. After a pause in action, the Steelers called a run, Fields keeping the ball and fooling nobody. He took a 7-yard loss and the Bills took over at their 16.
That is the only time Justin Fields brought the Steelers inside the 20 on the night, though he did have some longer drives. Particularly late in the game, over three drives, the Steelers with Fields produced 45, 65, and 56 yards. One ended in a field goal, the other two resulting in a turnover on downs. That third drive stalled on the Bills’ 20 exactly—just at the red-zone line.
While Fields showed some good things over the past two weeks, the Steelers need to see more. He has one more in-stadium performance to convince the coaching staff he should start over Russell Wilson. If he doesn’t produce points, or if he makes costly mistakes, he better start exercising his clipboard hand. Or I suppose it’s a tablet hand now.
