Justin Fields Plays Great vs. Chargers; Has he Cemented Himself as QB1?
The Pittsburgh Steelers emerged victorious from their home opener against the Los Angeles Chargers bringing their record to 3-0 on the year, good enough for first in the conference through three weeks. There are a lot of storylines we can pull from this game, whether it be the Steelers’ defense looking like the most dominant unit in football, Derwin James being unable to play safety under control, or the Steelers’ offensive line finding their groove in the second half and breaking the Chargers down. All of those topics are worthy of discussion, but there’s something special happening in Pittsburgh at the quarterback position that takes precedence over all of those things.
I became an NFL fan and a Steelers fan back in 2004 when I was about 8/9 years old. You might recall that year, we drafted this big white boy from Miami University in Ohio, and he went on to have one of the best rookie seasons for a QB in the history of the NFL, and led the Steelers to three Super Bowl appearances and two Super Bowl wins. THAT is the football standard that had been set forth for me at an extremely young age. Needless to say, I was spoiled.
Fast forward to April of 2022, Big Ben had retired and the Steelers used the 20th overall pick in the 2022 draft to select Kenny Pickett, a quarterback from the University of Pittsburgh. I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t handle the post-Ben Roethlisberger transition in a very healthy way. It could’ve been all of my Pitt acquaintances who told me that Pickett was going to be great, or maybe I just really admired K.P.’s ability to turn into a different football player at the end of ball games. Whatever it was, it fooled me into thinking he could be a true difference-maker at the QB position. In truth, he’s an alright game manager, and not much else. And, that’s ok. For me, however, psychologically, that was hard to accept. Part of me always had hope, deep down, that he was a franchise-caliber guy. I feel that way about Justin Fields right now. This time, however, it’s not blind hope. That’s not to say that the Steelers offense is out here lighting up scoreboards, because they’re not. What they are doing is winning time of possession, winning on situational downs, and consistently putting the defense in favorable field positions. We did none of that last year.
Take this play in the final moments of the first half; a 27-yard completion to George Pickens. His first two reads to his right aren’t open, so he works his eyes to the other side of the field, escapes to his left, and hits Pickens on the sideline. Great pocket presence and patience by Justin Fields, and also nice job by Pickens to see the play breaking down, and staying active, giving his QB somewhere to go with the ball. It was a big play, in a ‘gotta have it’ moment, against an extremely talented Chargers defense. I hate to compare, but here we go: if Kenny Pickett sees those first two reads aren’t there, does he continue to work the field with his eyes, or does he panic and spin backward out of the pocket? I’m not one of those guys that dunks on Kenny Pickett every chance he gets, like some of yinz. However, that has really been the difference between the offense last year, and the offense this year. That, and the playcalling.
Coming into the year, we knew Justin Field was fast, could throw on the run, and has a nice deep ball. What was the biggest knock on him? Sure, turnovers. But, for me, it was…can he make the “easy” throws? Can he stand in the pocket and deliver the ball with rhythm and timing? How ‘bout the next fuckin play of the game….19 seconds left in the half, ball at midfield…Fields stands in the pocket, and TELEPORTS the ball between three Chargers defenders with a guy in his face, hitting Muth right in the hands. I understand Muth dropped it, but look at the damn throw. Rhythm. Timing. Accuracy. Throw between the numbers. All while under pressure. I don’t think Muth was expecting that ball to be there, but Fields threw it perfectly. I love Pat Freiermuth, but that needs to be a catch in that situation.
Fast forward to the fourth quarter: the run game has picked up a bit in the second half, so let’s throw the ball on first down and keep the defense guessing. Fields takes the snap, takes a hard, quick look at Scotty Miller (#13), causing Chargers CB Derwin James (#3) to step out, leaving Pickens open on the corner route. Rhythm. Timing. Accuracy. BETWEEN THE NUMBERS. It may not seem like a big play, but moving Pickens around like that and working the ball toward the middle of the field is so nice to watch, and Justin Fields has been executing it extremely well.
What I love about these plays the most, is that they don’t appear to be an anomaly. We know Justin Fields can run, and there will be times when we will need that. He rushed 14 times in Atlanta, 8 ties in Denver, and 6 times against the Chargers. Yet, each week our offense has improved. Fields is staying upright and making the necessary plays with his arm to keep our offense moving. If he’s executing the weaker parts of his skillset at this point, it feels reasonable to expect him to continue to improve in those areas, and bust out his strengths when it becomes necessary for him to do so.
It wasn’t a perfect game against the Chargers, though. Obviously, there was an interception in there. Should that ball have been thrown? No. However, that ball was knocked up in the air by about six players before someone finally came down with it. It was a fluky-looking play, and I’m not going to bury Fields for that. I wanna focus on this read option between Justin Fields and Jaylen Warren in the third quarter. Fields needs to be more decisive if we’re going to be utilizing the read option often this year. In this instance, it wasn’t a big deal. However, holding onto the ball for too long on read options is a recipe for dead plays and turnovers. Obviously, giving him the option to use his legs is playing to his strengths, but he has to be able to make the proper read faster in that situation. It’s worth noting that earlier in the game, we utilized the read option in the red zone, resulting in Justin Fields’ first rushing touchdown as the Steelers QB. I’d just love to see us have consistent success with the read option moving forward. It’s sure to lead to some explosive plays at some point this season.
Mike Tomlin told reporters on Tuesday that he’ll name the starting QB moving forward when Russell Wilson is healthy and it’s necessary to do so. I understand his sentiment; you want to keep both guys engaged in the “QB competition” process, but make no mistake about it: the city of Pittsburgh will riot if Justin Fields is taken out of this lineup while this team is playing good, winning football. Fields has a 3-0 record as a starter, and the offense has taken a leap each week, so far. I’m of the mindset that we have a GREAT problem at the QB position, and while I have said before that Russ is probably the smarter move for QB1, I am officially withdrawing that sentiment. Justin Fields is the guy in Pittsburgh. And, not only for this year. This kid is only 25 years old.
I am officially on the Justin Fields bandwagon. Sign me up for ten years with this guy as my QB1. Yes, that’s emotionally charged and an overreaction, but also, yes, I’m being completely serious. What do yinz think?
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