Even when Justin Fields’ initial plan goes awry, the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback finds a way to prove he should remain ahead of Russell Wilson on the depth chart.
Fields did it again in Sunday’s 27-24 loss at Indianapolis.
Despite being sacked four times, losing one fumble and blaming himself for a botched snap in the final two minutes that led to a game-sealing turnover on downs, Fields ran for two scores and threw for another in the second half to cut a 17-0 deficit to three points with 3:40 left.
It wasn't enough to recover from a slow start in Pittsburgh's first loss of the season.
“It’s something we can control,” Fields said. “It’s coming out on game day and executing. Nothing more than that. It’s not complicated. At the end of the day, we feel like we beat ourselves. We knew we were shooting ourselves in the foot.”
Many observers believe Fields has done enough to be named Pittsburgh's starter over Wilson, who is recovering from a calf injury and was the emergency third quarterback on Sunday.
Fields has completed 70.6% of his throws for 830 yards with three TD passes and one interception with a passer rating of 98.0.
Still, coach Mike Tomlin has been reticent about making an announcement. Even this week, he said he would only make a decision when it became necessary. For now, it's not.
Alhough Tomlin liked the resilience Fields showed Sunday — completing 22 of 34 passes for 312 yards, including five for 20 yards or more, while leading the Steelers with 55 yards rushing on 10 carries — he wasn't giving Fields points for effort.
“I’m appreciative of his fight, but I’m not going to congratulate him for it. That’s the nature of the business that we’re in,” Tomlin said. “I appreciate his fight, but he, and me, were a little bit sloppy at times, too sloppy to be able to secure a victory.”
On third-and-10 from Indy's 33—yard line in the third quarter, Fields tried to avoid the oncoming pass rush by scrambling backward before twisting to make a throw and fumbling. Indy recovered at the Steelers 39 to snuff out the scoring chance.
Then there was the botched snap that cost the Steelers 12 crucial yards on their final possession. Pittsburgh never recovered from a second-and-22 and wound up turning the ball over on downs. Afterward, Fields said he should not have had his head turned when he lifted his leg to indicate it was time to snap the ball.
All he can do now is keep playing well and hope Tomlin rewards him for it.
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