The Pittsburgh Steelers have seen some great things out of Justin Fields over his first three games as the starting quarterback in the Steel City. As long as Russell Wilson continues to deal with his lingering calf injury, Fields will get more chances to play each week. He has been developing nicely from week to week, and if he stays on that trajectory, Mike Tomlin will have no choice but to stick with the hot hand, even if he refuses to make that commitment now. There is still a lot to work on, but there is a lot to like with Fields.
During his weekly press conference, Tomlin was asked many questions about his young quarterback, and he talked about one of the things that has helped him thrive.
"As I mentioned in here repeatedly, I like [Justin Fields'] steady demeanor. I like that in a leader. He doesn't ride the emotional roller coaster when things are going good, when things are going bad. Guys can rally around that. He's steady, he's a competitor, he likes to compete. He doesn't turn down things. He's aggressive in play: scrambling and so forth."
It's always good to have a leader that doesn't overreact in either direction, and that's what the Steelers have at the quarterback position currently. Everyone knows all about how talented Fields is with both his arm and legs, but there were always the questions about everything else. As time goes on, he will continue to answer to more of those as he did with the early concerns to begin the season.
Fields Shows Off His "Steady Demeanor" In Week 3
Fields and the Steelers did not overreact during their game against the Los Angeles Chargers, and it showed on the film. The first quarter was abysmal, as the offense struggled to move the ball forward. After the first two drives, they had -5 yards total. Fields himself had taken a sack for a loss of seven, as well as completed two passes for -1 yards. They could not find a way to get going at all.
After the Chargers scored a touchdown, the offensive attack finally woke up. Fields led the offense on a meticulous 13-play, 70-yard drive to answer back and tie the game up. They would later drive down the field again, but the 42-yard drive ended with Chris Boswell missing his first kick of the season, which was a 62-yarder that he pushed wide.
Once again, the upsetting end to the drive was no big deal, as they opened the second half with a 50-yard drive that ended with Boswell making a field goal. Even after making a poor pass leading to his first interception of the year, Fields was not phased. Following the turnover, the young quarterback led his team to take advantage of the Chargers' defense, who lost all their fire and physicality by that point.
As part of that fourth quarter onslaught, Fields hit Calvin Austin III over the middle on a perfect pass, who then found a seam and ran it in for a 55-yard touchdown. Fields ended the game completing 25 of 32 passes for 245 yards, along with the aforementioned touchdown and interception. He also had a five-yard rushing touchdown to open up the second quarter. It was pretty rocky at first, but once he settled in, he would not be stopped.
Nothing shows that calm, collected demeanor like being in a bad situation or making a poor play and rebounding from it without a problem. With a passing offense that is still relatively young, the Steelers need someone like that to right the ship. Fields didn't even overreact when he did well. A good drive was usually followed up by another good drive during the game. With the absolute gauntlet coming up after the bye week, he will have to keep that mindset and be steady for his team. He will have to continue to be the guy that his teammates can rally around.
