Pittsburgh Steelers QB Justin Fields is not pleased with his debut or with their debut as a whole. In every phase of their preseason opener, they got in their own way, whether botching snaps or muffing punts. It’s just the sort of lack of discipline head coach Mike Tomlin has been trying to drill out of his roster, which obviously did not work Friday night.
Still, all is not lost. Fields, for example, feels good about the work that they did when they weren’t getting in their own way. The offense did have its moments when everything was working as it should, the only problem being no points scored. All that translates to a busy week of practice for all involved.
“Tighten up the details. We’re focusing on controlling what we can control and not shooting ourselves in the foot”, Fields said after the Steelers’ 20-12 loss to the Houston Texans about what comes next. “It’s just a repetitive thing. As long as we do that, put ourselves in great field position, and do the routine things routinely, I think we’ll be great. I think we moved the ball well. I think we executed well, ran the ball well. When we were doing the routine things routinely, the ball was moving down the field. So, just doing that”.
Doing the routine things routinely was a major problem for the Steelers’ offense last season. Justin Fields was in Chicago then, but one cannot deny his contributions to those issues last night. As noted, he and C Nate Herbig botched multiple exchanges. He also took multiple sacks on possession downs, at least one questionable on his part.
On the whole, Fields went 5-of-6 passing for 67 yards. Notably, his one incompletion was probably misruled as such. He hit WR Van Jefferson down the field for a decent gain, but head coach Mike Tomlin did not challenge.
To be sure, the issues were not limited to Fields. The defense missed tackles, drew a defensive pass interference, and lost contain on multiple occasions. On special teams, Quez Watkins struggled returning punts, muffing one that allowed the Texans to recover. QB Kyle Allen missed a wide-open Calvin Austin III in the end zone for what should have been an easy touchdown on fourth down.
As a team, the offense went just 2-for-9 converting on third down with Justin Fields going 0-for-3. That included him taking multiple sacks and coming up short on 3rd and 13 following an aborted snap. They did, however, move the ball, and went 2-for-3 in the red zone. As a team, the Steelers also took six penalties for 59 yards.
Needless to say, Tomlin will be drilling his troops next week after this sloppy performance. He clearly wasn’t happy, and that extended to Fields’ role in this. While you can distribute blame for the botched snaps, he needs to show more awareness on third downs avoiding sacks. But now they have tape to comb through and make adjustments, and that’s what the preseason is for.
