Justin Fields is off to the best start of his career. Maybe not if you are purely looking at the box score. He isn’t putting up crazy fantasy football numbers, which often take the driver’s seat in conversations about performance these days, but he is playing his best where it matters. The Steelers are 3-0, and Fields has a chance to lead them to a 4-0 start.
Some will point to the defense as the only reason the Steelers remain undefeated, but Fields has more than done his part. Alex Smith had some harsh words for those that are writing off Fields because of his lack of flashy numbers.
“I think they’re lazy and they’re wrong,” Smith said on ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown this morning. “They’re not watching the film. And I think if you turn it on, listen, this Arthur Smith offense, they’re not gonna throw for 350 yards every single week. That’s just not the way they’re built. And that’s not the way Mike Tomlin wants it.
“He is such a perfect marriage for this entire team and how they think about winning football games.”
One big area where the Steelers are dominating, in part because of Fields, is time of possession. That is a team stat that can’t be achieved by the defense alone. The offense has to be able to extend drives and possess the ball, which the Steelers are. They are second in the NFL in average time of possession, only behind the San Francisco 49ers, with 33:55 per game. That is achieved largely because of their third-down percentage and their lack of turnovers.
The Steelers are converting 43.18 percent of their third-down opportunities, the seventh-best mark in the league. And they are one of just four teams with one or fewer turnovers on offense this season. One of the big knocks on Fields after his first three years with the Bears was his propensity for committing turnovers. He has thrown just one interception, and it was on a wild tip drill against the Chargers last week.
“I’ve really seen progression from him,” Smith said. “Standing in the pocket, it collapsing around him, and him settling in there and delivering balls over the middle. This guy’s completing nearly 75 percent of his passes.”
With a 73.3 completion percentage, Fields has been highly efficient. He has also found ways to create explosive plays to George Pickens and, most recently, Calvin Austin III. Not to mention the Steelers intentionally avoided the middle of the field in Week 1 to stay away from the Atlanta Falcons’ elite safety duo. As Smith said, the Steelers are going to lean conservative with the way they are built.
Fields has accomplished this while only rushing for 90 yards a touchdown. Where he used to take off running, he is now evolving into a more balanced quarterback who keeps his eyes downfield.
As he trusts himself more in Smith’s offensive system, and as the Steelers trust him more as the starter, Fields should continue to progress in all the areas that matter. The big performances in the box score will come.
