PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – There is still some time left, but likely Justin Fields will be the Steelers starting quarterback on Sunday in Denver. If that is the case, what offensive coordinator Arthur Smith learned about him after a week.
They’ve now had time together in a stadium. In a real game and one where it came down to one possession. Smith said Fields operated the game really efficiently and with no turnovers.
“What fired me up was situational football,” Smith said Thursday. “End the half, things you work on, to handle that situation, being able to get points on the board flip the momentum a little bit going and a half. And really at the end of the game we had six out of 10 drives where we had scoring. Now we want touchdowns. That’s not celebrating field goals, but the efficiency of that, and then based on that. We had six scoring drives, two of them really situational football because that one late in the game, you don't want to get greedy and you kind of concede it.”
He said the flow of the game dictated some of the conservatism, not just from Fields but from the play calling. He said he had a lot of respect for the other side, which is why you didn’t see Fields throw the ball in the middle. He didn’t want Jesse Bates to ‘wreck the game’.
“Sometimes it's just very practical,” Smith said. “You know, our Jason Bourne – T.J. Watt – wrecked the game. Theirs didn’t.”
Smith said Fields didn’t get greedy. When there were opportunities downfield, he took advantage of it. Fields flowed with the game and stayed disciplined which is why he had an efficient day, which included sealing the game with the quarterback counter.
Even though he has had 39 career starts, the Steelers offensive coordinator praised Fields for handling a new environment, a sudden change late during Week One. He thought Fields really managed all of that well.
He noted that some young quarterbacks don’t get a chance to develop in whatever situation they walk into. So much was put on his shoulders early on. He’s got a lot of experience, but he’s barely older than some of the rookies that are playing right now that got drafted high.
“You build off winning,” Smith said. “And there's always things we’ve got to work on, myself included. We talk a lot about shared accountability, and that's real. And so that I was happy, you know about growth, and handling the situation. That's what the great players do. And so that was a step in the right direction.”
Fields had big games with the Bears. He had smart games with the Bears. It lacked consistency. Denver presents a challenge on all fronts on Sunday.
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