Justin Fields didn’t get to do much winning with the Chicago Bears, including against the Steelers, whom he now quarterbacks. The fourth-year veteran jumped on Cameron Heyward’s podcast for a long conversation, including about just that. Heyward intercepted Fields back in 2021, but we remember that game for another reason: former Steelers OLB Cassius Marsh.
Marsh played one season in Pittsburgh in 2020. The following year, he signed with the Chicago Bears, during Justin Fields’ rookie season. Although he played in just four games, he delivered the impact play against his former team—then gave it away. He produced a third-down sack at a critical moment, but then stepped toward the Steelers’ bench, drawing a taunting penalty.
“We just couldn’t believe what happened. I’m not gonna lie”, Fields told Heyward about his recollection from the other side of the field at that time. “We go down and score that touchdown late in the game. We’re thinking it’s all over. [It’s] a 3rd or 4th and long and you think the game’s about to be over. Then flag. Boom, y’all get a first down and next thing you know, big play”.
That’s not quite how it happened, as the timing of Marsh’s penalty was actually earlier than Fields’ go-ahead touchdown. The Bears had just scored a touchdown to make it a 23-20 game, though, and the momentum was swinging. That big defensive stop suddenly taken away threatened to undo that, and the Steelers managed a field goal to make it a six-point game as a result. But Chicago wasn’t done.
The Bears trailed all game before going on a 21-6 run in the fourth quarter. With under two minutes to play, Fields hit Darnell Mooney for the go-ahead score, taking a 27-26 lead. That put the pressure on Ben Roethlisberger and company to work some magic. Three passes highlighted by a 22-yarder to Diontae Johnson helped put them in field goal range and the Steelers retook the lead with 30 seconds to spare.
Fields got the Bears down to the Steelers’ 47 in 24 seconds with no timeouts, enough for a prayer. They passed on a Hail Mary attempt, but K Cairo Santos could not connect on a 65-yard game-winner. The Steelers escaped, thanks in part to that Marsh-assisted field goal, with the win.
Many believe that the Cassius Marsh penalty was a joke, but the NFL defended it. The league was emphasizing taunting heavily that particular season, and like it or not, that qualified. We just saw on Thursday CeeDee Lamb penalized for a similarly tame “taunting” penalty, so this isn’t a random thing. Justin Fields was just on the wrong side of a turning point in how the league officiates its taunting rule.
