Three games, three wins with Justin Fields as the starting quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
While head coach Mike Tomlin won’t come out and name a starting quarterback yet, Fields is letting his play do the talking, especially coming off the Steelers’ Week 3 win against the Los Angeles Chargers.
In the 20-10 win over the Chargers, Fields completed 25-of-32 passes for 245 yards, one touchdown, one interception and added a rushing touchdown.
He looked the best he has in his brief time in Pittsburgh and made some big throws, putting the offense on his back in the middle part of the game to create some splash and put some points on the board.
Though Tomlin won’t deal in hypotheticals at the QB position because Russell Wilson is still hurt, former NFL defensive end J.J. Watt believes that Fields is playing some great ball for the Steelers, which will make it very difficult for Tomlin to make a change once Wilson is healthy.
“Clearly he has taken full advantage of this opportunity. He’s put his flag in the ground and said, ‘I’m not just a game manager. I’m not just here to run the ball and run zone-read and manage this game. I’m going to win us football games and I want this starting spot.’ And I think that you can see this team rallying around him,” Watt said of Fields on the Pat McAfee Show Wednesday afternoon. “I think you can see him really stepping up here. And, I mean, how do you take the spot away from a guy who’s 3-0? Let’s say he goes 4-0 this coming week. You can’t take that away. So kudos to him for taking full advantage of the opportunity at hand, ’cause he has done it really well.
“And I think…he’s really playing great football. He’s thrown some beautiful balls. He is not turning it over. He’s just doing exactly what needs to be done. And we all know in Pittsburgh they’ve had that defense that’s able to keep points off the board. It’s just been an issue of putting points on the board and he’s doing a good job for them.”
Through the first three games, Fields has done everything asked of him. He’s getting the ball out of his hands at a relatively quick pace, is making sound decisions with the football, is avoiding turnovers, and is making the throws that are there within the scheme.
His accuracy is standing out, too.
While he hasn’t had as much success with his legs as a runner as expected through the first three weeks, he’s taken a step forward as a passer, even with the Steelers having major questions regarding their wide receiver room behind George Pickens. Sunday’s performance against the Chargers showed just the type of talent Fields has.
Though the Steelers scored just 20 points, they took over the game in the second half, hit an explosive play in the passing game and did exactly what they wanted to do to the Chargers, which was be the bully and hit them in the mouth over and over until they broke.
That formula with Fields under center is working. They’re 3- 0 for just the fourth time in the Mike Tomlin era. The offense looks better and better each week, and Fields is playing with confidence.
As Watt said, he’s planting his flag as the starting quarterback, even if Tomlin doesn’t want to discuss it just yet.
