Through two games, Pittsburgh Steelers QB Justin Fields is 30-of-43 for 273 yards with one touchdown and zero interceptions. He also has 84 rushing yards on 22 attempts, but most importantly, he has a 2-0 record. And that is what the Steelers care about, but are they running out the clock until Russell Wilson is ready? That is the impression Mark Kaboly has.
“I think [the Steelers] are using [Justin Fields] as a legit backup quarterback”, he said yesterday on 93.7 The Fan. “They just don’t want him to lose games. I don’t think we’ve learned much of anything that we didn’t [know] four or five months ago when he came in here. They’re not putting him in opportunities to win games”.
Kaboly cited the differences between the first half of the game in Denver and the second half, suggesting the Steelers did not give Fields chances to make plays. They played it more conservatively, though that is what most teams do with a double-digit lead.
“They don’t want him to throw the ball”, Kaboly said. “They’re looking for him not to make that mistake rather than him to go out there and try to make some big plays”, he added, saying that that formula “doesn’t bode well” if the Steelers continue to start Fields.
That is the debate, of course, whether Justin Fields is just keeping Russell Wilson’s seat warm. Wilson has missed the first two games due to a calf injury, which flared up before the season opener. While he dressed as the emergency quarterback both weeks, he has yet to make his on-field Steelers debut.
It’s hard to say how different the Steelers are running the offense because they have Justin Fields rather than Russell Wilson. The calf injury has a lot to do with that, since, as a result, we haven’t seen much from him. Obviously, they like to take advantage of Fields’ mobility, but is that at the expense of a complete passing game?
“You see what this offense [with] Justin Fields has done the first two weeks”, Kaboly said. “Quite eerily similar to the first two weeks last year of what Kenny Pickett did. Numbers-wise, yards-wise, almost results-wise”.
In the first two weeks of the 2023 season, Kenny Pickett went 46-of-76 for 454 yards with two touchdowns to three interceptions. In other words, they don’t look much like Fields’ Steelers debut in terms of numbers or yards—or results.
Not for those particular games, anyway, but Pickett certainly posted similar stat lines. Fields is averaging 15-of-22 for 127 yards and half a touchdown in two games. In Weeks 10 and 11, Pickett went 29-of-51 for 232 yards with zero touchdowns and zero interceptions, so there you go.
But Pickett and Fields are very different quarterbacks, don’t let that mislead you. I suppose Kaboly’s point is that, like Pickett, the Steelers are coaching Fields not to lose games rather than to win them. And assuming that actually is his point, I think there are grounds for that.
