The Pittsburgh Steelers had a chance to enter this Sunday night’s game against the Dallas Cowboys 4-0. Unfortunately, they lost 27-24 in Indianapolis against the Colts last Sunday. The Steelers trailed 17-0 in the first half before clawing their way back into the game. They just were unable to fully dig themselves out of the big hole they dug.
But former Chicago Bears OL Kyle Long still thinks quite highly of the Steelers. A big part of that is the work QB Justin Fields has put in to get better.
“I liked what I saw from the Steelers battling back against the Colts,” Long said on Pushing The Pile’s Week 5 Preview show. “Not able to pull out a win, but Justin Fields is, to me, proving himself to be improving every week. He is the unquestioned leader of this team.”
Fields shouldered a big part of the Steelers’ comeback efforts. The offense got off to a slow start while the defense surrendered touchdowns on the Colts’ first two drives. That was a big part of the early deficit, but Fields stepped up and engineered three second-half touchdown drives. He finished the game with a 64.7 completion percentage (22-of-34) and 312 passing yards with one touchdown. He also ran the ball 10 times for 55 yards and two touchdowns.
Fields wasn’t perfect, fumbling twice and losing one, but he helped drag the Steelers back into the game. That’s a big part of his growth as a quarterback and why people like Long are praising him.
Justin Fields’ performance so far this season caught the eye of Mina Kimes, too. And she expects that he’ll be at the forefront of a resurgent running game against the Cowboys on Sunday. He’ll need to keep improving throughout the season to both help the Steelers become a playoff contender and to help him solidify his long-term spot as a starting quarterback.
But what about the defense? The Steelers struggled to contain QB Joe Flacco, who had to come in on the Colts’ second drive of the game to relieve injured starter Anthony Richardson. But Long doesn’t expect those struggles to continue.
“I love the defense, I love the identity,” Long said. “It’s a real team that has an identity in Pittsburgh. They got smacked around a little bit last week. I don’t anticipate them getting smacked around defensively in primetime. And look for Justin Fields to have a big game, man. Look for people to really be excited about watching this Steelers team dominate the Cowboys in primetime.”
The Cowboys will be without some of the biggest names on their team Sunday. They’re missing one of their best pass rushers in DeMarcus Lawrence and likely won’t have their very best in Micah Parsons. Neither he nor WR Brandin Cooks practiced on Wednesday.
The Cowboys already had one of the worst run defenses in the league before the injury to Parsons. If those struggles continue, the Steelers very well could be on their way to a dominant offensive performance in primetime.
