Tag: Justin Fields

Pittsburgh ignored their Wilsons in the Week 6 victory

The Steelers have once again ignored their talented Wilsons. The team could benefit from having Russell and Roman Wilson on the field.

It was theorized a few weeks ago that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ loyalty to specific players was holding Russell and Roman Wilson back from succeeding. Last week, George Pickens stated that his lack of snaps in Week 5 was a decision made by offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. Smith used WR Van Jefferson more often in that game, but where does this leave room for rookie WR Roman Wilson? He finally got his chance to debut in Week 6, yet was only used on five offensive snaps, while receivers Pickens, Jefferson, Austin, and Miller combined for over 126. 

Russell Wilson’s potential being wasted is something fans of the ‘Steel City’ have become accustomed to in recent weeks. QB Justin Fields didn’t outright beat Wilson for the position and hasn’t directly won Pittsburgh a game with his passing, yet Wilson remains the QB2. Fans have mixed reactions to Fields’ performance in Week 6, even though it was statistically his worst game of the season. Hopefully, Pittsburgh will utilize their pair of Wilsons more often moving forward.  

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How long can the Steelers’ defense keep bailing out Justin Fields?

While the Steelers scored over 30 points of offense in their Week 6 victory, how much credit should be given to quarterback Justin Fields?

The Pittsburgh Steelers dominated the Las Vegas Raiders in their Week 6 contest, outscoring them with a final score of 32-13.  However, the score doesn’t do the defense justice, nor tell the whole story.

Fields’ athletic abilities have never been in question.  However, his overall quarterback play begs the question, would the Steelers have lost this game if not for T.J. Watt and the rest of the defense?

Watt’s two forced fumbles stopped the Raiders from scoring additional points and killed their momentum, as well as gift-wrapping the Steelers’ offense touchdowns.  An interception by CB Donte Jackson, as well as blocked punt by LB Jeremiah Moon, gave the Pittsburgh offense their scoring position.

While an argument can be made that Fields’ rushing ability helped push the offense, a similar counter-argument can also clearly seen that Fields cannot win games with his arm.  Some believe Fields shouldn’t be benched in favor of Russell Wilson, but Fields produced his worst passer-rating of the season today: 75.9 QBR, with an abysmal completion percentage of under 60%.

Wins should not be a quarterback stat, but Fields may have lost this team more games than Wilson would have.

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Steelers shake off slow start for big win over Raiders

Pittsburgh dominated the Raiders on Sunday and got 30 points for the first time this season.

When the game started, it looked like the Pittsburgh Steelers were in for a long day against the Las Vegas Raiders. But after surrendering an early touchdown the Steelers defense put the clamps down on the Raiders and the offense got 30 points for the first time this season en route to a 32-13 win.

The Steelers offense was powered by big plays from quarterback Justin Fields and running back Najee Harris on the ground to keep the chains moving. Fields finished with 145 passing yards and 59 on the ground and Harris had his best game of the season with 106 rushing yards. Harris scored one rushing touchdown and Fields chipped in two of his own.

On defense, Pittsburgh completely snuffed out the Raiders rushing offense leaving only quarterback Aidan O’Connell and a short-handed receiving group. Thanks to some garbage-time yards, O’Connell did finish with 227 yards but threw one interception as well. The Steelers also got two key fumble recoveries and when this team wins the turnover battle, they typically win.

Now the Steelers come back to Pittsburgh for back-to-back home primetime games before the bye week. First up for the New York Jets followed by the New York Giants.

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Raiders, Steelers Week 6 recap, final score: Raiders unravel early, lose big again 32-13

Another big early mistake led to another collapse for the hapless Raiders.

Aidan O’Connell’s first start of the season would begin with some bad news — both the Raiders’ top receivers would not be playing.

With Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers both missing with injuries, he set out to get the Raiders offense moving with the weapons he did have at his disposal.

That apparently meant a heavy dose of tight ends and running backs. And when I say “heavy dose,” I mean he used ONLY his tight ends and running backs.

Through five drives, no wide receiver had touched the ball.

It worked at first, with the Raiders driving for a touchdown on their opening drive with O’Connell going 4 for 4 for 45 yards. But it ultimately wasn’t sustainable.

First everything stalled, with consecutive three-and-outs. Then things began to unravel. Starting with rookie running back Dylan Laube fumbling the ball away on his first career carry.

The Steelers got the ball and for an instant it looked like the Raiders might take it right back. Divine Deablo intercepted it on a pass over the middle, but newly signed former practice squad defensive tackle Matthew Butler was flagged for roughing the passer, wiping it away. The Steelers kept the ball and scored the touchdown.

A failed two-point conversion would send the two teams into the locker room with a 12-7 Steelers lead.

The unraveling continued in the third quarter, when an AJ Cole punt was blocked, giving the Steelers the ball in first and goal at the nine. The Steelers added a field goal to go up 15-7.

Steelers offense got the ball back quickly due to the Raiders’ offensive ineptness and started driving again. A K’Lavon Chaisson sack set the Steelers back, but a Maxx Crosby roughing the passer penalty on the next play gave them the first down at the Vegas 41.

Two plays later, Najee Harris took the handoff, found the left edge and was gone 36 yards to paydirt. It put Harris over 100 yards on the day (102) with an average of 8.5 yards per carry. And it put the Steelers up 22-7 over the Raiders with over three minutes left in the third quarter.

A long drive at the end of the third quarter looked for a moment to end in a touchdown pass to Alexander Mattison, but Andre James was flagged for ineligible man downfield to wipe it away.

Next play, Ameer Abdullah broke a tackle and ran it to the one-yard-line. He was given the ball on the next play and had it punched out and the Steelers recovered. Brutal.

It wasn’t long before the proverbial nail in the coffin. Aidan O’Connell was throwing from his own end zone, dropped back and overthrew Brock Bowers. The pass was picked off by Donte Jackson and returned to the eight-yard line. Next play, Justin Fields runs a naked boot for a touchdown to give the Steelers a 29-7 lead with just over eight minutes left in the game.

The Raiders second touchdown was brought to you by garbage time with O’Connell finding Kristian Wilkerson for the touchdown and a failed two-point conversion. The final score of 32-13 came after the Steelers recovered an onsides kick and then drove inside the 20 to add a field goal.

Coming into the game, the Steelers were averaging just 3.7 yards per carry which was 29th in the league and Najee Harris averaging a paltry 3.3 yards per carry. In this game their running backs were averaged 5.9 yards per carry in this game with Harris more averaging 7.6 yards per carry.

O’Connell finished 27 of 40 for 227 yards, one TD and one INT.

Justin Fields finished with 206 total yards including 61 yards on nine carries with two touchdowns.

Brock Bowers led the way for the Raiders with nine catches for 71 yards.

Former Steelers HC appeals to Arthur Smith to open up the offense for Justin Fields

Bill Cowher has advice for Arthur Smith.

Pittsburgh Steelers fans are used to seeing a conservative Steelers offense in recent years. This season is no different. But wait, things are different. There’s a new offensive coordinator in Arthur Smith and a new quarterback in Justin Fields.

Even with these upgrades, the Steelers offense is still stuck in neutral. But this time it feels self-imposed by Smith. He’s got an athlete in Fields and he’s got a freakish athlete in wide receiver George Pickens but seems content trying to grind out a run game that hasn’t been at all effective.

Former Steelers head coach Bill Cowher was on the pregame show and he implored Smith to open things up for Fields and give him a chance to make some plays.

“Arthur Smith, open this offense up,” Cowher said. “I think give him a chance to start spreading out the field. Go empty, go no-huddle. Use him now and give him a chance to grow as a quarterback.”

Cowher is fully aware of how you go outside of your comfort zone when you have an athletic quarterback. He did something similar with Kordell Stewart so he has some insight that Smith needs to listen to.

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Experts picking a bounceback win for Steelers over Raiders

Most NFL experts are picking the Steelers over the Raideres.

This week the 3-2 Pittsburgh Steelers face off against the 2-3 Las Vegas Raiders with both teams coming off of a tough loss. The Raiders have made a quarterback change, going with Aidan O’Connell while the Steelers are sticking with Justin Fields for another week.

NFL experts and pundits seem to feel that Fields gives the Steelers a better chance than the Raiders have with O’Connell. Both teams are missing key players including multiple pass rushers for the Steelers and Las Vegas’ top receiver.

We turn to our friends at NFL Pick Watch to give us the numbers for online experts. They aggregate picks from all over the internet and put the results all in one place.

As of Friday afternoon nearly all expert picks are in and the Steelers hold an edge of 88 percent to just 12 percent calling for the upset by the Raiders.

Both teams need this win to stay relevant in their respective divisions.

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Russell Wilson speaks his mind on WR George Pickens

While likely the QB2 in Week 6’s contest, Russell Wilson showed maturity and poise by standing up for his teammate WR George Pickens.

Whether on the field or in the lockeroom, the 2020 Walter Payton Man of the Year continues to prove why he should be the 2024 Pittsburgh signal caller.

If you asked Russell Wilson’s teammates what the QB brings to the team, they would describe several important qualities that a leader should have: maturity, swagger, and poise.

If you asked Wilson how he felt about his teammates in the ‘Steel City’, he would provide a passionate and intricate response befitting the role of a starting caliber quarterback in today’s NFL.

Recently, Wilson pulled no punches when giving his opinion on the recent drama surrounding Steelers’ superstar WR George Pickens.

While Justin Fields has held down the proverbial fort in Wilson’s absence, the former Seahawks’ and Broncos’ QB is ready to help this team do something he himself has accomplished once before—win a Super Bowl and bring the Lombardi Trophy back to Pittsburgh.

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Broderick Jones weighs In: Can Russell Wilson outshine Justin Fields?

During Friday’s media availability for Pittsburgh, RT Broderick Jones was asked what exactly the difference was between Wilson and Fields.

During Friday’s media availability, Broderick Jones was asked about the differences between Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. Jones kept his response short and sweet, emphasizing that the main difference lies in the ‘energy’ each quarterback brings to the offense.

“Russ has been doing this for so long,” Jones explained, “When he comes in, he has a little swagger about him.”

This swagger and poise is exactly what this offense seems to be missing, as Fields’ decision making and lack of pocket awareness continues to kill drives.  Wilson’s resume speaks for itself—nine Pro Bowl selections, 2015 leader in passer rating, 2017 leader in touchdowns, and Super Bowl XLVII champion.  However, the anger of fans and wise insight from their offensive lineman cannot bring Wilson’s presence on offense into fruition.

Pittsburgh’s young 2023 first-round offensive tackle seems to be stating the obvious answer to the question Arthur Smith and Mike Tomlin are trying to avoid—can Russell Wilson win more games for the Steelers than Justin Fields?

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3 things a Steelers loss vs the Raiders could mean for the season?

This week’s game could have huge implications on the rest of the season.

Week Six of the NFL regular season is upon us and this week’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders has huge season implications for the Pittsburgh Steelers. A win gets the team back on track, improves their record to 4-2 and likely solidifies the quarterback depth chart for the time being.

But what about a loss? If the Steelers lose a third straight game and fall to .500 it could have huge immediate implications that would extend through the rest of season.

Push a Devante Adams trade

Pittsburgh might feel the panic and throw a huge offer at the Raiders for wide receiver Davante Adams. If the Steelers lose, you can bet a big chunk of the blame would fall on the passing game.

Send Justin Fields to the bench

Fields is holding onto his starting job by a thread and if he struggles against the Raiders, he opens the door up for Wilson to take his starting spot and never give it back.

Make the Steelers pull the plug on adding talent

The Steelers might view a loss as too much to overcome and just pack up the tents and not try and add any talent. Pittsburgh may just opt to keep that extra salary cap for next season and try and ridge it out wth the current group, hoping to get some players healthy.

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Steelers make decision about starting quarterback vs Raiders

Mike Tomlin announced who would be the Steelers starting quarterback against the Raiders this week.

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin addressed the media on Friday ahead of the team’s game this weekend against the Las Vegas Raiders. The biggest question was about if Tomlin would stick with Justin Fields or turn to Russell Wilson to help snap the Steelers two-game losing streak.

Tomlin said that Wilson is healthy but needs time to “knock the rust off” so he will be active this week and be the No. 2 but Fields will get his sixth start. Fields got the Steelers off to a hot start winning the first three games of the season but was unable to overcome injuries and inconsistent defense to win either of the last two.

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Fields’ future could rest on his performance in Vegas. If he doesn’t play well, that rust is going to come off pretty quickly. If Fields steps up and gets the team back on the winning track, Wilson might stay rusty for a bit longer.

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