The Pittsburgh Steelers lost their first game with Justin Fields on Sunday, and they’re placing the blame on themselves. Not without legitimate cause, granted, because they certainly did the Colts some favors. While Indianapolis deserves a lot of credit, Pittsburgh had perhaps its sloppiest game of the year.
That’s why Fields is still high on what the Steelers were doing and believes they beat themselves. The Steelers did erase a 17-point deficit, and even had a chance to win the game in the end. By that point, they had the momentum—before they got in their own way again.
“We were very confident” the Steelers would score at the end of regulation, Justin Fields said, via the team’s website. “We knew the whole game, they weren’t stopping us, we were stopping ourselves. It’s kind of crazy that we stopped ourselves on the last drive too. Like I said, it’s nothing mysterious. It’s just us at the end of the day and we have to execute. I have to be better. We have to be better as a whole. Got to come back next week and bounce back”.
The last gaffe is the one most are talking about, and that is for multiple reasons. For one thing, it was the last major turning point in the game; for another, it was entirely avoidable. Justin Fields took full blame for Steelers C Zach Frazier snapping the ball before he was ready.
“At the end of the day it’s on the first leg kick. So after I kicked my leg up, I gotta be ready for the ball no matter when it’s gonna come or not. So yeah, it’s on me”, Fields said. Basically, he signaled to begin the snap procedure but then turned his attention elsewhere. And the snap doinked off his head, as planned, of course.
These sorts of center-quarterback exchange issues have been far too common with Justin Fields, going back to training camp. We are four weeks into the season and are still having the same problems, which has to concern the Steelers.
Sure, you can argue that the Steelers beat themselves, but you have to account for known variables. If you keep beating yourself, then that is who you are, and the team your opponent is facing. The Colts beat a team that is prone to errors, including Fields’ miscues, of which they took advantage.
Of course, Justin Fields isn’t solely to blame, not by a long shot. The offensive line really struggled to run block for most of the game, for example. And then there was George Pickens’ egregious lost fumble in the red zone. Joey Porter Jr. dropped a red-zone interception that cost them three points in the long run.
You can probably add up at least 9-12 points that the Steelers left on the scoreboard or failed to keep off it it simply by failing to execute in basic, expected ways. Those are the sorts of things Fields is talking about here, but should we really expect improvement at this point?
