The Pittsburgh Steelers were led to victory over the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1 by quarterback Justin Fields. The fan base and the media have been divided most of the offseason over who should start - Fields or Russell Wilson? The pendulum began to swing more solidly in Fields' favor after Wilson suffered a calf injury before the start of training camp, allowing Fields to step up and take the reins.
Fields' performance under new Offensive Coordinator, Arthur Smith, wasn't exactly a barn burner. They never scored a single touchdown in the season opener, but instead, they won with six field goals thanks to Chris Boswell. It felt like Smith and Head Coach Mike Tomlin wanted to ease Fields into this new offense.
If that were the case, it certainly wouldn't be inappropriate. So much of this offensive unit is new to Pittsburgh and to each other. On top of that, Fields showed during his time with the Chicago Bears that he seemed to lack some instincts, sometimes struggling to read the field, leading to a problem with turnovers. But the caution paid off. He protected the ball against the Falcons and had zero turnovers.
Former NFL Executive Doug Whaley joined the 93.7 The Fan Morning Show to discuss this first game. Whaley knows the Steelers well. He is a Pittsburgh native and worked as a pro personnel coordinator for the team under former General Manager, Kevin Colbert. Whaley wasn't exactly impressed with what he saw from Fields against the Falcons.
"Did he do enough to win? Absolutely," said Whaley. "But when Coach Tomlin says, 'You need to make the routine plays routinely,' he wasn't doing that early. He kind of settled in and got it at the second half, second quarter, third quarter, whatever. But when you look at the shots, when he did take shots, he completed them. I'd say he'd had two, maybe three NFL-type throws, and one of them, with the rollout, was a scheme; there was no one around him and no one around Pickens. The rest of it? You could throw a high school guy in and do the same thing."
Whaley acknowledges that it is easy to blame Fields, but admits that is probably exactly what Smith and Tomlin asked him to do. The offense did start out rather conservatively, and it appeared Smith opened the playbook a bit as the game went along.
Whaley hopes the Steelers will start Fields in Week 2 against the Denver Broncos. Tomlin hasn't offered a clear answer to whether Wilson will remain the starter once he is healthy. Whaley said he would like to see Smith take the reins off Fields a bit and extend the offense to show a bit more of what he is capable of. It is no secret that Fields is one of the most dynamic athletes in the league, but he also has to show that he can be a successful game manager.
Steelers Dealing With Other Offensive Injuries
Besides Wilson's long-lingering calf strain, the Steelers have also dealt with a few other injuries on the offense. Guard Isaac Seumalo was out with a pectoral injury, giving second-year player Spencer Anderson his first career start. Running back Jaylen Warren suffered a hamstring injury during a preseason game and Tomlin was cryptic about how they are managing that situation. He had a few touches, but was not a major contributor.
The other major injury that has concerned fans is the one to rookie tackle Troy Fautanu. He missed some playing time, which seemed to stunt the plan to move Broderick Jones to the left side of the line while benching Dan Moore Jr. Fautanu was suited up as a depth piece against the Falcons, but didn't start. Now the injury bug has bitten again, this time to Moore. If Moore cannot play against the Broncos, fans might finally see what they have been waiting for - their two most recent first-round selections on the field together during a real game.
