The Pittsburgh Steelers had a conservative game plan in Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons, relying on their run game and ball control while not throwing to the middle of the field to avoid S Jessie Bates III. Former NFL cornerback and current analyst Dominique Foxworth thinks that Pittsburgh is trying to hide Justin Fields with its game plan.
“And that’s not gonna be something they can get away with for the entire season,” he said on The Dominique Foxworth Show. “It might be something they can get away with for one more week…there’s going to be a game when Justin Fields has to be a good quarterback, and that’s the game I’m looking forward to. Because I think he has the ability, but I also think that he’s got a lot of scar tissue.”
Fields has had issues with turnovers and accuracy, and some of his accuracy issues showed on Sunday. But I don’t think Pittsburgh’s game plan was intended to hide Fields. They let him make plays, taking a few shots downfield to WR George Pickens, and also let him use his legs, as he ran 14 times for 57 yards. While the team didn’t ask him to carry the load offensively, he didn’t need to for the Steelers to win.
Additionally, Fields wasn’t supposed to be the starter heading into the week. He only got thrust into the starting lineup after Russell Wilson re-injured his calf during practice last Thursday. Without as much time to prepare as the starter, the Steelers likely didn’t make things too complicated for Fields and relied on what they know he can do well.
If Fields continues to start and the Steelers continue to avoid the middle of the field and don’t throw the ball often, then you can maybe make an argument that the Steelers are “hiding” him a little bit. But I don’t think that’s a statement you can make after one game with a calculated and defined game plan that worked.
Pittsburgh will face some tougher tests in the weeks ahead, namely their stretch in Weeks 3-5 when they play the Los Angeles Chargers, Indianapolis Colts and Dallas Cowboys, but Russell Wilson could be back starting by then. But if he isn’t, those are three games where it’ll be really interesting to see how the Steelers attack with Fields. Even this weekend against the Denver Broncos should be a good test, and we’ll see just how much the playbook gets opened up and if the Steelers do anything differently with Fields having more time to prepare as QB1.
But I definitely don’t think the Steelers are trying to hide him. I think Fields just did a good job executing and doing what he was supposed to do in Week 1 without trying to do too much.
