The Pittsburgh Steelers had some positives to take away from their matchup against the Indianapolis Colts. The main thing was the development of Justin Fields, who had a great game overall. He completed 22 out of 34 passes for 312 yards and a touchdown, along with 10 carries for 55 yards and two more scores. He was not perfect, as he had a pair of blunders that severely hurt the team: a 20-yard strip sack where he could have thrown the ball away, and a botched snap on the final drive of the game.
On his podcast, former NFL cornerback, Richard Sherman talked about the fumble that Fields had, but instead of bashing him for it, he praised the young quarterback for how he responded afterwards.
"We can talk about the fumble - just a bad play where he should've just got rid of it and saved the bad play, but trying to do too much - but he could've folded right there. He could've went into the tube, he could've went into the hole, and at times with the Chicago Bears last year, he did, and problems got compounded -- but he showed a real growth in this game: 312 yards, 10 rushes for 55 yards and two touchdowns."
One of the big problems with Fields when he was with the Chicago Bears was that he would try and play hero ball too much. Instead of calming down and putting a bad play behind him, he would try too hard to make up for it, and it resulted in him being a turnover machine. That kind of play is unacceptable. The only way to truly overcome those bad plays is to act like they never even happened before going out for your next drive.
That play was sort of a culmination of that mindset. On third down, Fields was looking to make something out of nothing and escape pressure. He stumbled and lost the football, giving the Colts premium field position. Luckily, they failed to convert thanks to a missed field goal, but that was still a costly mistake. If Fields throws the ball away, the Steelers would be in prime field position to let Chris Boswell try a 51-yard field goal.
Unlike those moments with the Bears, Fields didn't let that mistake ruin him. His next three drives all ended in touchdowns, and he led his offense down the field quickly and efficiently each time. His longest scoring drive of the half only took 3:20 off of the clock. Instead of trying to do too much to make up for the fumble, he played Steeler football: smart, safe, and effective. You don't need the home run ball when Najee Harris is wide open in the flat with plenty of running room in front of him.
Steelers Have Taken Notice Of This Sudden Change
After the Steelers' Week 3 win against the Los Angeles Chargers, Mike Tomlin praised his quarterback for that same level of resilience. Fields threw a bad pass that led to an interception, but he responded with back-to-back scoring drives. They would have even had a third one if it wasn't for the fact that they just had to knee the game away. Even against a heavily injured team like the Chargers, the Steelers don't win that game if Fields tries too hard to fix his mistake.
Fields still has plenty of things to work on, but he may have fixed his biggest weakness. His confidence and collectiveness after a turnover are off the charts. The Steelers have helped him be more conservative with his decisions, and that seems to have slowed the game down for him somewhat. If he can find a happy medium between Pittsburgh's safe offense and his own aggressive style, he will be the perfect quarterback for the Black and Gold.
