Tag: Justin Fields

Russell Wilson should be given a chance to earn his spot back, right?

A calf injury shouldn’t be the reason a former Super Bowl winning QB loses his starting job, right? Tell that to Mike Tomlin.

The quarterback competition seems all but dead at this point, and the culprit for the battle’s end is none other than a… calf injury?

Yes, you read that correctly. Although Mike Tomlin has been adamant in seasons past about starting players not losing their spots due to injury, it seems almost as if that is exactly what happened.

Justin Fields may have overtaken the job at some point during the 2024 campaign, but Russell Wilson‘s only attempt to compete was in a preseason game against the Buffalo Bills, in which the offensive line let him get absolutely crushed.

If that is why Tomlin is hesitant to name a starter moving forward, good on him for creating an equal playing field. But that also begs the question: how can anyone bench Justin Fields when his performance was MVP-esque through two consecutive weeks of football?

There’s a simple answer—you can’t. And now everyone can understand why Tomlin and the Steelers are between a rock and a hard place, or in this circumstance, a Russ and a Fields.

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Micah Parsons on Justin Fields’ success: ‘Bears should have kept him’

The Pittsburgh Steelers will take on the Dallas Cowboys, sans Micah Parsons, in the first ever Sunday Night Football meeting between the long-time AFC and NFC rivals, on October 6th at 8:20 PM EST.

In a league where rivals clash, Micah Parsons, despite dealing with an injury, would love to sack Justin Fields this Sunday—but instead, he’s choosing to admire the Steelers’ star quarterback.

While speaking on his podcast, The Edge, exclusively on Bleacher Report, Parsons spoke very highly of his team’s Week 5 opposition.  He touched on the fact that Fields “won the team over” and will likely start in Week 5 regardless of Russell Wilson being healthy.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DAo1SYfzuG9/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

While some analysts thought Caleb Williams was the talent to build around, Parsons stated he was glad that Mike Tomlin and the Steelers restored Fields’ confidence in himself, after potentially being stripped of it by the Chicago Bears.  He stated he was more than happy to see Fields “flourish” in this new environment.  Parsons also touched on the fact that not only is Fields 3-1 to start the season, he almost achieved an unimaginable comeback in Week 4 for Pittsburgh.

The Pittsburgh Steelers will take on the Dallas Cowboys, without Micah Parsons, in the first-ever Sunday Night Football meeting between the long-time AFC and NFC rivals, on October 6th, at 8:20 PM EST.

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Cowboys need to prepare for Justin Fields with a hint of Russell Wison

The Steelers didn’t originally hitch their wagon to Fields, but circumstances have allowed the young QB to thrive in a new environment. | From @KDDrummondNFL

When the 2023 season came to an end, the Dallas Cowboys knew they’d be facing off against the Pittsburgh Steelers at some point this season. In fact, because of divisional rotations, that’s been known for a while now. What remained unknown was which quarterback they’d have to defend against. After a couple years of trying to make Kenny Pickett a thing, it was clear Mike Tomlin and company would be going a different direction in 2024.

For much of the offseason, it appeared the quarterback Dallas would have to defend against would be former Super Bowl champion Russell Wilson, on his third team in three-plus years. After flaming out for much of his time in Denver, the Broncos ate a ridiculous amount of dead money and sent him packing. The Steelers grabbed him, but also traded for former No. 1 selection Justin Fields from Chicago.

Wilson has been Pittsburgh’s No. 1 QB, but a preseason injury gave Fields the starting gig, and it appears he’ll hold onto it for Week 5 despite Wilson’s improving health.


Fields hasnt exactly set the world on fire in the passing game, aside from his 312-yard Week 1 performance, but he’s been a steady hand under center for the Steelers, leading them to a 3-1 record. He’s thrown for 830 yards, three TDs and just one interception thus far this season, while maintain his dual-threat ability with 145 yards on the ground and another three scores.

Fields is currently the seventh-ranked QB in PFF’s passer rankings, grading out at a 78.1. His adjusted completion percentage (% of aimed passes thrown on target (completions + drops / aimed) ranks second among QBs with at least 90 snaps at 82%, as his stats are a bit muted based on a 6.1% drop rate from his targets.

He’s playing the position as well as he has in his entire career.

The Cowboys are just two weeks removed from facing, and being embarrassed by another AFC North opponent and their running QB, Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens. Fields is not on the same plateau of Jackson, but he presents a similar threat for a defense that is still trying to find their footing under new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer.

Fortunately Pittsburgh’s OC Arthur Smith doesn’t have roots in the Shanahan offensive system, but he is still going to present problems for a club that will be playing without their two starting edge rushers.

The Steelers haven’t outright committed to this being Fields’ show, but that may be out of respect for the veteran and what he’s accomplished in the league rather than there being a question truly attached. SIf Fields starts to struggle, then Tomlin has every avenue to pursue an improvement. Hopefully the Dallas defense will create that concern on Sunday night.

Justin Fields has big afternoon in former Wisconsin quarterback’s absence

Justin Fields has big afternoon in former Wisconsin quarterback’s absence

Former Wisconsin and current Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson missed his fourth consecutive game to open the 2024 season on Sunday. He remains sidelined with a lingering calf issue.

In his fourth game serving as Pittsburgh’s starting quarterback, former Chicago Bears’ starter Justin Fields notched 22 completions, a season-best 317 passing yards, one passing touchdown and a 104.0 passer rating in the Steelers’ 27-24 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Indianapolis.

Fields also recorded 55 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in the Steelers’ first loss of the 2024 season.

The performance came one week after he tallied 25 completions, 245 passing yards, one passing touchdown and one interception in the Steelers’ 20-10 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 3.

Despite the loss, the back-to-back outputs may have solidified Fields’ position as the Steelers’ starter for the long-term. While head coach Mike Tomlin has hesitated in previous weeks about assigning a title to the Steelers’ starting quarterback, Fields has done more than enough to earn the title.

With the AFC North’s Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals in free fall, the Steelers possess a division lead with Fields at the helm. Barring any major setback on Fields’ side, there isn’t much of a rush to get Wilson onto the gridiron in the coming weeks.

Again, Wilson donned a full uniform, eye black and a head set throughout the entire game. The former Super Bowl champion will surely do the same in Week 5 against the Cowboys.

Frustrating recurring error costly for Steelers in Colts loss

Communication between Steelers center and quarterback Justin Fields has been bad all season, and it cost them in a potential comeback drive. 

Miscommunication between Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Justin Fields and rookie center Zach Frazier has been a season-long issue, and it cost them significantly in a potential comeback drive.

Four plays into a seven-play drive initiated at the Pittsburgh 17, Fields fumbled the center-to-quarterback exchange for a big 12-yard loss. Fields recovered at the 30-yard line only to throw two out of the final three passes incomplete for a turnover on downs.

Instances like this (in addition to high snaps) have occurred twice in the 2024 season, both on the road (preseason at Detroit Lions, Week 2 at Denver Broncos). Teams work on silent counts for away games and can be alerted in three ways: The guard tapping the center, a quarterback leg kick or a combination.

The sloppy center-to-quarterback exchange is a fundamental issue that needs to be remedied immediately before it leads to future failure. In this instance, Fields said the alert was the leg kick, and he simply wasn’t ready for the ball.

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Did Justin Fields give away the Steelers starting quarterback job?

Justin Fields started off bad and finished strong against the Colts.

Earlier in the week, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin reiterated the point that Russell Wilson is still the team’s starting quarterback but isn’t healthy. It sounds like he was just hedging his bets in case Justin Fields fell flat.

And Fields did just that on Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts. For a half that is. Fields and the rest of the Steelers offense came out completely lost on Sunday. Fields in particular appeared to have zero pocket awareness, was tentative and struggled to get through his reads. This was a huge factor in Pittsburgh trailing 17-3 at halftime.

Then, after seemingly giving away the starting job with that anemic first-half performance, Fields threw the offense onto his back in the second half and nearly brought the Steelers all the way back. Fields rushed for two touchdowns in the second half, threw for another and finished with 312 passing yards and led the team with 55 rushing yards.

Now the Steelers return home to prepare to take on the Dallas Cowboys and we have no idea what the status of Wilson will be. But if Wilson is healthy and ready to play, did Fields do enough against the Colts to keep the job?

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Steelers RB Najee Harris wants praise for the whole team, not just Justin Fields

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris was tired of reporters making the comeback attempt solely about quarterback Justin Fields.

There’s no I in team, but Najee Harris was tired of reporters making the Pittsburgh Steelers’ comeback against the Indianapolis Colts solely about quarterback Justin Fields.

When asked what Fields showed in the second half, a frustrated Harris (at 2:28) had this response:

I think we all showed ourselves. I think we as a team showed what we can do. Not one player. Y’all always keep putting on one person. It’s the whole team. All 11 of us. Stop making it one player. Y’all keep saying Justin as if he’s the one throwing, catching and running like, come on, bro. It’s all of us. So what do we do? What did we see? I saw us all fight us as a team.

A critical snap error, which Fields shouldered the blame for, overshadowed a strong comeback attempt led by the Steelers’ new quarterback. Meanwhile, Harris averaged a paltry 1.5 yards per carry on 13 attempts.

https://twitter.com/BrianBatko/status/1840493443149373442

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Video shows dejected Steelers QB Justin Fields explaining final botched snap

The center-quarterback exchange is one of the most critical plays of the snap and Justin Fields and Zach Frazier just can’t seem to get it right.

The center-quarterback exchange is one of the most critical plays of the snap and Justin Fields and Zach Frazier just can’t seem to get it right.

In the Pittsburgh Steelers’ loss to the Colts, one of their countless botched exchanges of the season cost them what was shaping up to be a comeback victory.

Fields was looking to his right and never saw the snap, which hit him in the facemask. A clearly dejected Fields had this to say after the game:

It was my fault. We were going on the first leg kick, then Zach [Frazier] was identifying stuff. I felt the defensive backs rotating and changing the backend picture, so when Zach was identifying stuff, telling the O-line where to go, I was just trying to get that final picture before the snap came. At the end of the day, it’s on the first leg kick, so after I kicked my leg up, I gotta be ready for the ball, no matter you know when it’s going to come or not.

Fields recovered the fumble, but the harm had already been done. The offense lost 12 yards on the sack, and the drive — the Steelers’ last opportunity to tie or win the game — ended in a turnover on downs.

It would be the straw that broke Pittsburgh’s back after an earlier play resulted in a sack-fumble and Colts recovery. Fields was pressured and slipped while running for his life, losing control of the football.
The sloppy center-to-quarterback exchange is a fundamental issue that needs to be remedied immediately before it leads to future failure. Instances like this have occurred twice in the 2024 season, once in the preseason versus the Detroit Lions and again in Week 2 in Denver.

Fields, Frazier and the offensive line need to nip this botchery in the bud because it looks very JV.

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Steelers RB Najee Harris defends his quarterback

Najee Harris didn’t like the question he got about Justin Fields.

The Pittsburgh Steelers spotted the Indianapolis Colts 17 points on Sunday but almost came all the way back to pull off the comeback win. The team fell just short, losing 27-24 and falling to 3-1 on the season.

Right or wrong, in many cases wins and losses fall on the shoulders of the quarterback and Justin Fields was that guy on Sunday. After struggling mightily in the first half, Fields came on strong in the second half and accounted for three touchdowns in the second half.

The media asked running back Najee Harris about Fields after the game and Harris appeared to take great exception to a reporter asking him about Fields as if he was laying blame for the loss only on Fields’ play.

“I think we all showed ourselves,” Harris said. “I think we as a team showed what we can do. Not one player. Y’all always keep putting on one person. It’s the whole team. All 11 of us. Stop making it one player. Y’all keep saying Justin as if he’s the one throwing, catching and running like, come on bro. It’s all of us. So what do we do? What did we see? I saw us all fight us as a team.”

There’s no doubt the blame can be spread around for this loss. Harris finished with 13 carries for only 19 yards and was seriously outshined by Colts running back Jonathan Taylor. Having watched the interview with Harris, it seems like a fair question about Fields playing so much better in the second half than the first.

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Steelers fans react to disappointing Week 4 loss

The Pittsburgh Steelers officially fell victim to the infamous trap game. Fans react to their team suffering first loss of the season.

Well, in classic Pittsburgh Steelers fashion, the trap game took shape early, and the team suffered its first loss of the season in Week 4. The blame game is an easy game to play after a heartbreaking loss. The truth of the matter is that the defeat falls on everyone’s shoulders. Some die-hard Steelers fanatics may have a different idea on who to blame, such as the defense, Mike Tomlin, Arthur Smith, the offensive line, the referees, Justin Fields, or even George Pickens and his red-zone turnover.

After a game that was absolutely winnable against an injured Colts team that simply had more heart, Steelers fans are understandably upset. However, some are also optimistic as to what the future holds.  Neither side is wrong, and no one can take away from how dominant the Steeler looked in the first three games of the season.  Here are some of the fan reactions to the Steelers’ Week 4 defeat in Indianapolis:

https://twitter.com/Varcolac/status/1840503924773564547

https://twitter.com/CountFuqua/status/1840503970617319645

https://twitter.com/2HighCoverage/status/1840506427519181260

https://twitter.com/Jody_McFly/status/1840505183295668631

https://twitter.com/HofSpillane/status/1840502943767769171

https://twitter.com/jorge_sanchez_/status/1840506887214870629

https://twitter.com/iamjoshdouglas/status/1840506111407042809

https://twitter.com/SucksBurfict/status/1840505692588777931

https://twitter.com/McGuireSteelers/status/1840504184418045953

https://twitter.com/Steelers6dh/status/1840503146847551774

https://twitter.com/Blakee_Walkerr/status/1840507717418377663

https://twitter.com/AdamBSteelers/status/1840507660569051547

https://twitter.com/daminals76/status/1840507046304870685

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