The Pittsburgh Steelers are 3-0.
They sit atop the AFC North and have won all three games in a variety of different ways. Though their defense has been the dominating factor in all three, their offensive work has varied.
Week 1 saw Chris Boswell turn into Superman and go 6/6 on field goals, half of those from 50+ yards out. He scored all 18 of Pittsburgh’s points in Atlanta.
Week 2 saw a sloppy, muggy, trench warfare-style of game that got progressively harder to watch. The second half was practically unbearable, but the Steelers grinded it out to win 13-6.
But in Week 3, the Steelers offense showed a new side of themselves. Though the point totals weren’t all that much higher, they looked like a legitimate NFL offense. They were cohesive, they were efficient, and they had the splash plays that they needed to take a win in their home opener.
The one thing that has remained consistent in an up and down offense has been Justin Fields. The man who was acquired for a sixth round pick from the Chicago Bears has been tabbed as the starter three weeks in a row, as Russell Wilson continues to work through a calf injury.
With Fields at the helm, the Steelers have had their best start to a season since 2020. They won their home opener for just the third time in the last eight years.
And the impact that Fields has had on their winning ways can be argued, but consider this: of the first three games in every Steelers season since Ben Roethlisberger retired, Fields far and away leads Steeler quarterbacks in completion percentage, rushing yards, and is tied for the lowest interceptions. Here’s how he stacks up:
2022 (Mitch Trubisky): 60.19%, 569 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT, 23 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD
2023 (Kenny Pickett): 59.62%, 689 yards, 4 TD, 3 INT, 9 rushing yards
2024: (Justin Fields): 73.33%, 518 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT, 90 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD
I get that Fields has the lowest passing yards total, but I would that Fields has little control over that. He is subject to conservative play-calling, he has a young offense around him, and he has one of the weakest wide receiver rooms in the entire NFL.
What he does have much more control over, however, is getting the ball out efficiently and accurately to whoever it is he is passing to. And he is doing that masterfully.
Fields is fifth in the entire NFL in completion percentage (with a minimum of 50 attempts). And while the actual yardage took a few weeks to show up, that production and explosiveness we have all been craving finally arrived against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Fields even eclipses the completion percentage that Big Ben had put up in the first three games of the season for several years.
But even if the yardage totals make you skeptical about Fields, that narrative is also changing now. Fields put together a dominant day in Pittsburgh’s home opener, going 25/32 for 245 yards, a passing touchdown, a rushing touchdown, and one interception that was tipped in the air.
He made a big time throw to Calvin Austin for a 55-yard catch and run touchdown that had fans buzzing.
I talked a bit more about this in my Five Thoughts piece that also came out today, but this is the kind of play that Pittsburgh-era Fields can make that Chicago-era Fields probably doesn’t. He had to rifle that ball into the hands of Calvin Austin; if he had waited just a millisecond more, the incoming defender could have swiped that away.
What’s most impressive about Fields and his breakout game for the Steelers was that he did it against one of the bets defenses in the league. The Chargers had come into Week 3 allowing 6.5 points per game (best in NFL), 4.3 yards per play (third best in NFL), 5.8 yards per passing attempt (sixth best in the NFL), and 4.5 net yards gained per pass attempt.
Opposing teams had TWO snaps in LA’s red zone in the first two games combined.
Even though the Chargers’ defense suffered some injuries, they were no match for Fields, who was used much more as an exclusive passer, only taking off 6 times for as many yards (both season lows). We all know that Fields is a weapon with his legs, but now he really found a way to show that he is a weapon with his arm as well.
Fields’ 245 passing yards was the seventh highest total of his NFL career. He did that in his third game as a Steeler. Just for reference, it took him until his ninth game as a Bear to hit a number that high (ironically, that game was in Pittsburgh).
Through it all as well, Fields has been incredibly likable as a person. He’s a humble guy, expressing a gratitude for being here but without taking any kind of shot at Chicago, who ditched him for first overall pick Caleb Williams.
Fields is eager to learn, eager to get better, and eager to keep helping his team however he can.
He is revitalizing his NFL career in a city that has welcomed him and in an organization that quite frankly, is a much better fit for him than Chicago ever was.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has yet to name a full-time starter in the wake of Wilson’s calf injury and Fields’ emergence. After Week 1, and perhaps even after Week 2, that decision was still truly a tough one. The unknown of what Wilson could provide a young Steelers offense was enough to genuinely consider him.
All signs point to Wilson being healthy enough to play in Week 4, and if Fields was struggling, Tomlin was set up with a season-altering choice to make.
Now, Fields made that decision for Tomlin. This is Justin’s job to lose.
It’s certainly not the plan that Pittsburgh had going into the season, which was to have Wilson start and Fields play the backup role. It’s also probably not the plan that Russell Wilson had when he originally signed here.
But injuries happen, plans change, and Fields has shown the Steelers exactly what they would have wanted out of either guy playing the position.
To his credit, Wilson has been a great teammate through all of this.
He has said all the right things to the media, and every now and then you can see him enthusiastically cheer on his teammates from the sideline. He’s been putting on a very team-first attitude, and whether deep down he is upset about things or not, that hasn’t boiled over into the public sphere.
He may end up being forced into a player-coach type of role from the bench, and if that is the case, that’s a win-win scenario for the Steelers. They have one of the best backups in the NFL, and a great mentor for someone like Fields, who despite his 3+ seasons in the league is still only 25 years old.
Fields’ improbable journey from his banishment in Chicago to his breakout in Pittsburgh has been exciting to watch. Mike Tomlin has been left no choice but to keep the good times rolling.
(Featured photo by Matt Freed/AP)
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