Pittsburgh Steelers QB Justin Fields took three snaps against the Baltimore Ravens in the Steelers’ Week 11 win. Per Pro Football Reference, Fields saw the field for seven offensive snaps against the Cleveland Browns. It certainly seems like the Steelers want to make the Justin Fields offensive package a reality this season.
And there are good reasons for that. The Steelers were 4-2 with Fields as the starter. Fields ran for five touchdowns in those six games while also cutting down on turnovers (only one interception).
But how can Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith make it work? The Fields package was less than stellar against the Browns despite a 30-yard run by Fields that he felt should have been a sixth rushing touchdown on his stat sheet.
“I wish they used him more like the Saints use Taysom Hill now,” said Nick Wright on Friday’s episode of First Things First. “Where it’s like, hey, when you’re on the field, you might, you could be split out to the outside. You could be the running back. He’s athletic enough. He is a hundred percent athletic enough. Like, Taysom is on the field a lot right now with Derek Carr on the field. Build out something where both players are on the field, to me, could be a unique wrinkle. It just, it feels to me like it’s consistently disjointed when he comes out there, even though it adds some high-upside plays. And so I do think the Steelers don’t have enough talent on offense to just shelve this idea. Because he is a talented player.”
Right now, the Steelers are pulling QB Russell Wilson off the field to send Fields on. The coaching staff is trying to determine the best way to utilize Fields’ dynamic athleticism. They evidently feel like he’s a good enough player that he deserves to see the field.
And that’s great. Fields is a phenomenal athlete who can make plays Wilson can’t anymore. But how can Arthur Smith navigate putting Fields in without screwing the offense up? You can argue that the offense was stagnant through much of the first three quarters of the Browns game, so you aren’t really screwing anything up.
But the reality is that swapping quarterbacks is awkward. How can you do that seamlessly when the goal is to have your offense operating smoothly?
And that’s why Wright suggests finding a way to get both quarterbacks on the field simultaneously. Arthur Smith hasn’t nixed the possibility of such a package, so maybe we will see that happen.
If the Steelers want to establish themselves as top-tier competitors in the AFC and the NFL, they need to continue improving the offense.
“As well as Russ is playing, I don’t think he’s dynamic enough at this point for them to win the AFC,” said Chris Broussard in the same episode. “I just think, you’re gonna have to beat Josh, to beat Lamar, to beat Patrick, you gonna have to be dynamic at some point. And because he doesn’t have the legs anymore, I don’t think that’s a part of his game.”
All you have to do is look at last Sunday’s game between the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs to understand the need for dynamic playmaking. With under two minutes remaining, the Bills faced a 4th-and-two in Chiefs territory with a two-point lead. Kicking a field goal would mean the Chiefs would have to score a touchdown to win. But even with the Chiefs’ struggles, that’s still QB Patrick Mahomes in an offense run by head coach Andy Reid.
So, the Bills opted to keep the offense on the field. QB Josh Allen showed off his dynamic athleticism by running not only for the first but also for a 26-yard touchdown to make it a two-score lead for the Bills.
That’s the kind of dynamism Broussard is saying the Steelers need to take down teams like the Chiefs and the Bills. And Wilson, at one time, could have done that. But he’s almost 36 years old.
That’s why the Steelers are trying to figure out how best to deploy Justin Fields. And maybe, as Nick Wright says, the Steelers should look to put both Fields and Russell Wilson on the field at the same time.
