Another Justin Fields start is likely on tap for the Steelers, who are 2-0 with the fourth-year passer at the controls. Russell Wilson is not scheduled to log a full practice Wednesday, and Mike Tomlin said (via ESPN.com’s Brooke Pryor) the team is “readying a plan that features Justin.”
The Steelers have not exactly been prolific on offense with Fields, scoring all of 31 points in two games. But the trade acquisition — who entered the offseason as the clear backup — has gained enough ground on Wilson it is believed to have put the starting job in question. The 25-year-old passer has completed 69.8% of his passes, albeit at just 6.3 yards per attempt, but has managed two pilot Pittsburgh to two wins despite questions about the team’s pass-catching group after the much-discussed Brandon Aiyuk trade fell through.
Fields helping the Steelers to a win over the Broncos boosted his case, and Wilson may be running out of time due to a calf issue sidelining him — save for some preseason time — since the start of training camp. A report before that Denver matchup suggested Wilson would not lose the job he won due to injury, but it may well be up in the air now.
Here is the latest from the AFC North:
- Stepping into the No. 1 cornerback role to start his third season, Cam Taylor-Britt pulled down a spectacular one-handed interception of Patrick Mahomes in the Bengals‘ Week 2 loss. With the Bengals expecting a big year from Taylor-Britt, The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr. notes this would put the former second-round pick on the extension radar come 2025 (subscription required). Taylor-Britt will be eligible for a second contract next year, and while the Bengals are poised for a second round of Ja’Marr Chase negotiations in 2025, a quality Taylor-Britt showing this year would leave them an easier extension to complete.
- Attempting to move from a decorated wrestling career to the Bills, Gable Steveson did not turn that bid into a spot on Buffalo’s active roster or practice squad. The former Olympic gold medalist is not shutting down football aspirations, with NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo noting he worked out for the Ravens this week. The 24-year-old wrestling convert competed as a defensive lineman in Buffalo, with Bills preseason games doubling as Steveson’s first football games at any level.
- The Browns and Bears completed a trade for defensive tackle Chris Williams just before the season. The pick-swap deal involved the Bears sending the Browns a 2025 sixth-round pick (originally from the Vikings) for Williams and a conditional 2025 seventh-rounder, Cards Wire’s Howard Balzer notes. The sixth that went to Cleveland was originally a Miami selection.
“has managed two pilot Pittsburgh to two wins”. Autocorrect sucks, especially when I send the text or submit Facebook comment without proof reading.
Sometimes it looks like a teenager communicating. My 14 year old texted me the other day “wsp” and I had to ask him what that meant.
Two things about Fields…
1) His best plays have all been called back for (mostly) unrelated penalties. So, the numbers don’t look as good as the eye test. He made some nice plays.
2) He has 1 and 1/2 viable receiving options. Virtually any passer in the NFL will struggle when everyone knows where the ball is going.
PS- FWIW, The Taylor-Britt INT was one of the best I’ve ever seen. Absurd.
I dunno, he’s also benefitted from some non stat-sheet plays, too. How many snaps has Fields fumbled so far in two games? Sure, some of that might be on Frazier, but this happened in the preseason, too. The Steelers have bailed out their QB a few times with recoveries.
Some of his misses have been pretty bad, too, or near interceptions. I thought that play by play guys in the Denver game were noticeably over the top in their praise for Fiekds, while my own evaluation was much more uneven. Wilson may or may not be better, but it’s fair to say that the hesitancy for Fields so far is warranted right now. It’s been quite a bit of rookie level mistakes mixed in to his play for a fifth year former first round pick.
He fumbled 2 snaps in 2 games with a rookie center. I mean it’s 2 too many but it’s not an astronomical number either… he’s definitely not been without mistakes but he’s an extreme upgrade over Pickett. He hasn’t thrown an interception so near misses don’t matter.
Now if fields led the offense down the field to throw a crucial INT late in the game then yeah I’d say there’s glaring rookie mistakes. His mistakes haven’t been game changing – hence the 2 wins. Hes been fine. Nothing spectacular. Better than Pickett ever could’ve been.
Well, he also fumbled snaps a few times in practice and OTAs, plus the preseason, also with a different center (Nate Herbig), so I don’t think that the issue is isolated. We can’t be surprised at this point if we see it.
I see your points, but I do disagree on that the misses don’t matter. Those are the throws that do become interceptions. Some of the throws that weren’t could have been good gains that kept the offense going. Fields is in his fifth year, and these are throws that he should be making.
It’s not impossible that he is better than Wilson, or vice versa. Fields hasn’t shown anything to me personally that says that he should be safe. Now, I watched Wilson totally ignore the middle of the field last year and force long balls to knock the offense out of rhythm, so there’s no guarantee that he does better. As an outside observer, though, I’d still like to see him in game action before making a final judgement about Fields’ relative value to him as a starter. I wouldn’t comfortable with either in the event that the defense cannot control the game, or against a team who can consistently score points (unlike Denver, whose QB is definitely terrible).
Practice and preseason doesn’t count. Kenny Pickett is a glaring indication for that. I agree that the fumbles are inevitable though. It’s going to happen sooner or later and we really can’t be shocked. There are sometimes exceptions to the rule. Most of the time a QB doesn’t get better after 4-5 years. Some times you get a Geno Smith. Not saying Fields is on that trajectory, he isn’t, but being in a historically stable organization with a patient HC doesn’t hurt. Last week against the Broncos they were 3 penalty calls away from that score looking a lot different. On one certain play, Fields extends the play by rolling right, throws a LASER to Pickens that only he can catch for about 45-50 yards (I can’t remember exactly), and it gets negated by a holding call. That’s something us Steeler fans haven’t seen in, sheesh, every bit of 5-7 years. That is possibly making me a tad more enticed and excited than I realistically should be based off of his history. The other half of myself says ‘Well the Bears have been around since 1920 and they’ve never had a 3,000 yard passer that’s an organizational black hole for QB’s and Fields just got the short end by being drafted there.’