The Pittsburgh Steelers will face a very interesting decision following a Week 3 bout with the Los Angeles Chargers. All signs are pointing to Justin Fields starting for a third consecutive game, but Russell Wilson is nearing a full recovery from his calf injury. The franchise sits with a record of 2-0, and if it improves to three wins and no losses following Sunday's matchup, it seems almost impossible for Head Coach Mike Tomlin to turn his back on the younger quarterback. Fields has been mistake-free and, for the most part, put together some solid scoring drives, but the majority ended with field goals.
Pundits across the sports media landscape have been debating the quarterback competition in the Steel City since Fields was traded for. It always seemed to be Wilson with the edge, but that has quickly shifted due to availability and, most importantly, winning football. Get Up on ESPN discussed the situation further on Wednesday morning, and former NFL wideout Andrew Hawkins defended the idea of letting Fields continue, especially if a win commences on Sunday.
Domonique Foxworth, on the other hand, gave an extremely bad response to Hawkins. The former Baltimore Ravens defender cited that Fields' play was trending down in Week 2.
"My problem with [Fields] is we want him to not make mistakes. In the first week, he didn't take any debilitating sacks and he didn't turn the ball over," Foxworth said. "The next week, they win again [against the Broncos] and he doesn't turn the ball over, but he started taking sacks that killed drives. So, that's the problem."
For starters, Fields took two sacks in both Weeks 1 and 2. Against the Denver Broncos, one of the came in the red zone, but it was on first down and the offense ended up scoring, only for the touchdown to be taken away due to a very questionable offensive pass interference call. The other sack was only for a loss of one yard. Would anyone really call that debilitating?
Looking back at the Week 1 contest versus the Atlanta Falcons, Fields' sacks were way worse for the team. The first came at the beginning of the third quarter when he was taken down for a 15-yard loss on a short third down. The second came at the end of the game and cost the Steelers field position in a tight matchup. It ended up putting Chris Boswell in a difficult situation, having to punt with Cameron Johnston being injured.
The national media deserves a ton of credit. The former players often provide great insight and commentary, but this was flat out wrong and irresponsible from Foxworth. The truth of the matter is that, if anything, Fields improved with his pocket presence in his second start of 2024. To imply that he took a step back and hurt the team is delusional. Sure, the red zone sack hurt, but it wouldn't even be looked at if the Van Jefferson offensive pass interference wasn't called.
Wilson still may end up getting a chance when fully healthy, but there's no doubt that Fields has showed improvement from his time with the Chicago Bears. The goal is to win, and if Fields and company are able to accomplish that on Sunday at Acrisure Stadium, Tomlin is going to face a lot of pressure from the fan base to make the right decision.
Steelers' Fields Has Done Exactly What Has Been Asked Of Him
The Fields everyone knows from Chicago was a turnover-prone quarterback that loved to take sacks. It's a short sample size with Pittsburgh, but he has shown much better awareness in the pocket, while protecting the football. One can argue that Wilson is the veteran and would have put up more points on the board through two weeks, but it's ludicrous to imply that Fields regressed in Week 2.
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