The Pittsburgh Steelers hired Arthur Smith this offseason to rejuvenate and reshape their offense. After three years of Matt Canada as offensive coordinator, they needed something more stable. Although they didn’t crack 20 points until Week 3, the Steelers were 3-0 by then. Yet they fell short this past Sunday in their highest-scoring affair to date, 27-24.
The defense certainly shares blame, allowing more than they did in the first three games combined. But both sides of the ball contributed to digging a 17-point hole early on. It was only through QB Justin Fields that Smith’s unit surged in the second half, and falling short hit hard.
“That does fire you up”, Smith said about Fields’ continued growth that he displayed in the second half on Sunday, via transcript provided by the Steelers’ media department. “I thought in that second half what was cool to watch as a coach and a play caller when somebody gets in that kind of flow, he damn near took the game over. When that happens and you feel it with a player, it doesn’t matter what I called. You felt him rolling. That’s what was such a bitter pill to swallow how the game ended”.
For the first time since 2021, the Steelers offense produced three consecutive touchdowns under Justin Fields. He accounted for all of them, running two in himself and hitting TE Pat Freiermuth for the third. And Arthur Smith knows sometimes he was just sitting back and watching.
Fields finished the game 22-for-34 passing for 312 yards and a touchdown, just the second 300-yard passing game of his career. He also rushed for 55 yards, including a pair of touchdowns. But unfortunately, it’s never that simple.
Arthur Smith could only watch as Justin Fields took a snap off the facemask on the Steelers’ pivotal final drive. Pittsburgh had a chance to take the lead and steal a win, down three, before that play nearly ended any hopes of an impressive comeback.
By that point, you almost felt as if the Steelers would inevitably come back. That’s even more a credit to Fields than it is to Smith, both of whom have been upgrades. But the way it all fell apart in the final two minutes was, indeed, a bitter pill to swallow.
Still, one can take encouragement for the progress made leading up to that point. Throughout the young season so far, we have heard from Justin Fields, Arthur Smith, and many others that they have to stop shooting themselves in the foot. They were able to win while working on that, but now with a loss on their record, they really need to clean up these entirely controllable mistakes that continue to hold them back.
