Before he was the offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Arthur Smith earned his first head coaching opportunity by reviving the career of Ryan Tannehill with the Tennessee Titans. According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, the Steelers believe he can do the same for Justin Fields.
“They love Justin Fields personally,” Breer said via The Rich Eisen Show on Thursday afternoon. “I can tell you that they really like coaching him. They really like working with him. He is a Steeler, you know what I mean? And I know that sounds weird for a guy who’s been there for six months, but he really kind of has the makeup and the demeanor of a Pittsburgh Steeler, so he’s fit in really well.
“Has he played at an A-plus level? No. Arthur Smith worked with Ryan Tannehill and basically resurrected Ryan Tannehill’s career in Tennessee. I think that they feel like Arthur and his staff feel like they could even do more with Justin Fields than they did with Ryan Tannehill, and they got to an AFC Championship Game with Ryan Tannehill in Tennessee.”
Through two games, Fields has completed 30 of his 43 pass attempts for 273 yards and one touchdown. Perhaps more importantly, he hasn’t turned the ball over with zero interceptions. He has had some fumbles due to botched snaps, but the Steelers have fortunately recovered all of those.
Other than that, Fields hasn’t done anything to put the team in harm’s way. Like it or not, that is exactly what the Steelers are looking for with their stellar defense and a kicker like Chris Boswell. They have already shown that they can win games this way, starting with a 2-0 record.
Coincidentally, Justin Fields’ adjusted net yards per passing attempt of 5.29 in the 2023 season is the exact same number that Tannehill had the year before he started working with Smith in Tennessee. In his first year with Smith, Tannehill jumped all the way to an 8.52 ANY/A on his way to a Pro Bowl selection and an appearance in the AFC Championship game.
Fields still has a long way to go to match Tannehill’s improvement, but the Steelers are only two games into the season. He is currently at a 5.60 ANY/A, which is still a career high. He also had a touchdown and 107 passing yards wiped out by penalties.
If Fields manages to get the Steelers to 3-0 with a win on Sunday, it will become very interesting to see how they handle things once Wilson is healthy. Just today, Wilson told the media he was able to do more in practice than he previously could.
