The Steelers have talked often about having a package of plays for quarterback Justin Fields since pulling him from the starting lineup in favor of Russell Wilson, but they never really broke them out until Thursday night.
Fields was stopped short of a first down on a fourth down run in the first quarter and then returned to the game in the fourth quarter. He had a 30-yard run that moved the Steelers into Cleveland territory and then drew a roughing the passer penalty that helped set up a touchdown. Fields saw more time after the Browns threw an interception with about four minutes left in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t pick up a first down as he threw an incompletion to George Pickens on third down.
After the 24-19 loss was in the books, Fields said he thought he should have scored on the long run but felt “stiff” after being on the sideline for so long. He said the inconsistent playing time impacts rhythm, “but, at the end of the day, that is what my job is” and he won’t complain about getting to play. Both Fields and head coach Mike Tomlin also said that the snowy weather wasn’t the reason why the team decided to expand Fields’s role.
“No, I don’t think the weather was a factor,” Tomlin said in his press conference. “We had intentions on using him and we did. I don’t know that the weather conditions were a factor in that decision-making.”
The bigger factor might have been an offense that didn’t score a touchdown between the fourth quarter in Week 10 and the fourth quarter on Thursday night. Going to Wilson at that point was an admission that the Steelers need to find ways to put more points on the board and that Wilson has not got that done as well as he did when he first came into the lineup. Falling short on Thursday night means Fields could become a bigger part of their attempt to solve that problem.
Read the full article here
