Word out of Pittsburgh for the past week is that Justin Fields is making a strong case to challenge Russell Wilson for the starting quarterback job. He’s looked good in practice, making sharp throws. The preseason opener against the Houston Texans offered the perfect opportunity for him to further his case. If you watched the box score, you’d say he did exactly that, starting the game 5-of-5 for 67 yards. However, those numbers concealed the truth. Fields looked shaky at best for most of his time out there.
It started with not one but two fumbled snaps under center, both of which the Steelers were fortunate to recover. If that weren’t enough, Fields also took two sacks and four hits before the 1st quarter was even over. The result came in the way you’d expect. He struggled to get the ball out on time, allowing rushers the time needed to get there. Bears fans tried to warn people about this, having witnessed it for three years. For all of Fields’ brilliant physical tools, his inability to protect the football and slow reaction speed always gets him into trouble.
Justin Fields still has a shot, but the window is closing now.
He was building all this momentum mainly because Russell Wilson had been out with a nagging injury. It appears the seven-time Pro Bowler is nearing a return now. This game, though preseason, represented a golden opportunity for Fields to make a statement. Instead, it was more of the same things he’s shown throughout his career—good moments interspersed with headache-inducing mistakes. Consistency was never his thing, and that hasn’t changed.
One can only hope he gets another shot. Nothing about that performance says he deserves to supplant Wilson as the starter. There are two more games to come. Justin Fields is a competitor. He’s known to bounce back. Still, he won’t win the job through strong practices alone. Pittsburgh needs to see it transferred to games. That didn’t happen this time. It will be interesting to see if the narrative around him shifts at all over the coming week following this performance.
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@Dr. Steven Sallie – the truth is the truth. The same people who routinely belittle Justin Fields would scream bloody murder if Caleb Williams was put into the same circumstances and given the same tutelage.
Hypocrisy, and stupidity are alive and well.
Only that ignorant of NFL football, uppity billionaire business owner would have selected that other QB over Stroud. Stroud’s attributes, talents, mentality, knowledge, and record made it a no-contest for me–it was Stroud and no-QB else at #1. Even if he does not improve any further, it was a no-brainer for me. I also wonder what Poles true thoughts about him were at the time.
Look …did Justin Fields come into a great situation? No… was he expected to be an elite QB given the weapons he was given. No. ..BUT…the Bears weren’t asking him to be Patrick Mahomes… they wanted him to show improvment……but he had a bottom four QBR……and .with Kmet and Dj Moore, could he have at least been middle of the pack QB?…he was in the top 3 in QB target miss rate….meaning…when WRs were open…he missed them…… The O-Line wasn’t top 10 last year but they were 19th … not great but not horrible ….remember Joe Burrow went to the… Read more »
Ppl love to blame Nagy and Getsy, solely, as if JF himself had no responsibility in naturally growing as a player. He didn’t have the best coaches ever, but Getsy moved on to a lateral position, and was picked up quickly. JF on the other hand was demoted to a backup role, where he belongs, and was worth less in a trade than backup Guard Ryan Bates… less than Zach Wilson… less than Trey Lance who didn’t even play football games. Lol. He is who he is, and he looks exactly the same now with “quality” coaching. He will have… Read more »
Hey, watch it Tred, you are too rational and accurate on this site. You are under-appreciated and open to attack, not just disagreement. Protect your pets from the hyenas.