Throughout Sunday’s 18-10 win on the road against the Atlanta Falcons, it appeared rather clear that backup quarterback Justin Fields was very much in the game-manager role offensively for the Black and Gold under first-year offensive coordinator Arthur Smith.
The middle of the field was not utilized in the passing game, deep shots were few and far between, and Fields wasn’t asked to do too much with his arm overall. On the day, Fields completed 17-for-23 passes for 156 yards, adding another 14 carries for 57 yards.
While that final stat line isn’t all that memorable from Fields in his first start as a Steeler, Fields and the Steelers’ new-look offense did enough to do the most important thing in the game: win.
For NFL.com’s Nick Shook as part of his Week 1 takeaways, that was the key for Fields. Putting together a performance worthy of winning.
“Despite the final stat line, Justin Fields did not appear to be comfortable for much of this game. He fumbled his first snap, missed an open target on his first throw and appeared hesitant when working through progressions. But NFL teams don’t invest in a playmaker like Fields because they simply want him to stand in the pocket and throw; they play him because of what he can create,” Shook writes for NFL.com. “Fields did plenty of that, rushing 14 times for 57 yards, including a key keeper on third down to ice the game. He didn’t make any crucial mistakes, and while he didn’t necessarily throw the Steelers to victory, he did well enough to move them into Chris Boswell’s range, allowing the kicker to tally 18 points with his right foot, which was good enough for the win.”
Things certainly didn’t get off to a good start for Fields on Sunday in Atlanta, which came just a few short days after the Steelers’ preparation for the Falcons was thrown off on Thursday with starting quarterback Russell Wilson landing on the injured list with another calf injury.
That pushed Fields into the starting lineup late Thursday and into Friday, with the decision at quarterback coming down to a game-time decision.
Starting things off, Fields fumbled the first snap of the game from under center and then misfired badly on a rollout to Van Jefferson. In the same drive, Fields missed a wide-open Najee Harris out of the backfield.
But after that Fields largely settled in and played well in the game-manager role. He didn’t turn the ball over and didn’t make any questionable decisions with the football overall. He hit some big plays to standout wide receiver George Pickens, too, leading to points for the Steelers, both at the end of the first half and in the second half, leaning on the right leg of kicker Chris Boswell.
It was telling that the Steelers never asked Fields to do the heavy lifting through the air. Arthur Smith called a run play on a 3rd and 6 early in the game with the Steelers in field-goal range to avoid any mistakes. They didn’t attack the middle of the field, either. And even on a 3rd and 18 the Steelers ran the football and settled for a field goal.
In the end though, Fields did what was asked of him, avoided the mistakes, made the throws that were there, and helped pilot the Steelers to a win on the road to open the season. Good enough for the win, period.
