The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cincinnati Bengals 44-38 in a shootout in Week 13. The win was a huge one coming off a frustrating loss to the Cleveland Browns the week before. Now they are sitting at 9-3, solidly atop the AFC North in Head Coach Mike Tomlin's 18th straight non-losing season, and have their eyes on the postseason. One of the major assets the Steelers have is two starting-caliber quarterbacks, and the win over the Bengals gave the appearance that they are starting to figure out how to use them interchangeably.
Offensive Coordinator Arthur Smith said he does not view Justin Fields as a gadget quarterback to use instead of Russell Wilson. Instead, he and Tomlin see it as they are lucky enough to have two starting quarterbacks on the roster. Fans and the media waited anxiously after Wilson returned from his calf injury to see if they would use Fields at all. Their wish was finally granted against the Baltimore Ravens. However, how he was used against the Browns left many people with more questions than answers.
The Steelers have struggled in the red zone and short-yardage situations, and many hoped Fields would be the answer. Fields began to slide too soon during the Ravens game and came up just short of a first down. Against the Browns, Fields played eight snaps, but only one in the red zone. He had a huge fourth-quarter 30-yard run that helped shift the momentum, but that was the biggest highlight. He capped the game off with a deep third-down incompletion to George Pickens, leading to a muffed punt.
During the game against the Bengals, Fields' appearance was so short that if you blinked, you might have missed it. However, that doesn't negate his impact, according to Mark Kaboly from The Pat McAfee Show, who joined the 93.7 The Fan Morning Show crew to discuss the game. Fields was brought in with just under two minutes remaining to attempt to convert a third-and-four to put the game out of the Bengals' reach. Kaboly was asked if he likes the use of Fields in those late-game situations.
"In that situation, it's perfect," said Kaboly. "I think it's perfect. They didn't need him, so that's why he only had that one snap earlier. The plan was to use Fields more, but you just gotta see how that game starts playing out, and you're like, 'Geez, this guy's not doing much wrong at all, so we can't take him out."
Kaboly isn't wrong. It would have been very difficult to remove Wilson from the game on Sunday any more than they did. Unlike in the game against the Browns, Wilson consistently performed well. The Steelers only had to punt once late in the game. The former Super Bowl winner had the best first half of a game in his entire career. Against the Bengals, Wilson put up 414 yards and three touchdowns overall with just one interception.
The Bengals' defense appeared unprepared for Fields, which Kaboly found surprising given that it seemed obvious he was going to run the ball. The fact that they crashed down on the play allowed Fields to pick up the first down easily. He said Fields had to think if they were going to hand it to him on a silver platter, he would take it.
Steelers Need Continued Quarterback Creativity
Many NFL teams would love to have the Steelers' situation with Fields and Wilson. Both quarterbacks are on one-year contracts, and the Steelers will likely have to make some difficult decisions during the offseason, but for now, they need to determine how to implement them both effectively.
Kaboly pointed out that Fields needs to both pass and run so that the defense doesn't automatically know what they are doing when he is under center. During the game against the Browns, the offense looked confused when Fields was in. They need to work out those kinks so that defenses have to plan for both, not just Wilson.
