The Pittsburgh Steelers finally got backup QB Justin Fields involved in their win last Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens. They expanded on that idea against the Cleveland Browns on Thursday Night Football with mixed results. One former NFL safety wasn’t a big fan of the constant back and forth between Fields and Russell Wilson.
“I don’t like when you have a quarterback like Russell Wilson, he’s in the game. He’s driving up and down the field. It’s momentum. They have momentum. These guys are used to him, his voice, his cadence, and then all of a sudden on the most important down on fourth or third down and four, you’re taking Russell Wilson out,” Rodney Harrison said via Pro Football Talk on YouTube. “And to me the package isn’t even a great package because you know 90 percent of the time, he’s going to run the football. And I just don’t like that. I thought they got too cute with that at times.
“Just keep the starting quarterback in. Let him play, hand the ball off, and keep it moving.”
It wasn’t exactly the dynamic changeup that many had hoped it would be. There has been chatter about a package of plays for Fields dating back to before the season began, but the offense looked disorganized at times Thursday, including on a critical fourth down that resulted in a turnover on downs.
The Steelers doubled Fields’ snap count from three last week to six this week. They finally let him attempt a pass, but that is a tough task coming off the bench with a cold arm. Neither throw he made against the Browns was particularly great though I am glad they did it. When Fields is in the game it feels like a high-probability run, and that isn’t ideal for the Steelers if they wish to continue using the package.
Fields had three rushing attempts for 26 yards. He had two passing attempts with zero completions. One of the throws, Fields and the offense got bailed out by a roughing the passer penalty. His QBR was a 2.5. The one run play up the right sideline was almost great, but Fields admitted that he felt stiff coming off the sideline and thought he could have broken that for a touchdown otherwise.
Other than the 30-yard run, the other two running plays went for negative yardage.
The other side of that equation is how much does that knock Wilson out of his rhythm? Wilson was a good teammate after the Steelers’ 24-19 loss and said he has no issues with the package of plays for Fields, but starting quarterbacks don’t like that, and it didn’t exactly pay off in this game for the offense.
Perhaps the snow was a factor in all of this, but that isn’t going to get better as the season progresses into the winter months and certainly not in the playoffs against teams like the Buffalo Bills or Kansas City Chiefs in January weather.
Other than his bad fumble and some unfortunate sacks taken, Wilson played a good game. He completed 21-of-28 passes for 270 yards and a touchdown with another three rushing attempts for 10 yards.
It will be interesting to see how the Fields package develops over the next few weeks and if it becomes a fixture, or a failed experiment that the Steelers stop utilizing down the stretch.
