Justin Fields and Zach Frazier Reveal What Happened on Botched Snap

INDIANAPOLIS — Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Justin Fields put the blame on his shoulders for the botched snap late in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 27-24 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Fields recovered the loose ball, but the offense lost 12 yards on the play. The mishap threw a wrench in the rhythm of the drive and the Steelers ultimately fell short on the final possession.

“It was my fault,” Fields simply stated after the game. “We were going the first leg kick. Then Zach (Fracier) was IDing stuff. I felt the DBs rotating and changing the back end pictures. So when he was IDing stuff, telling the o-line where to go, I was just trying to get that final picture before the snap came. At the end of the day, it’s on the first leg kick. So after I kicked my leg up, I gotta be ready for the ball no matter when it’s gonna come or not. So yeah, it’s on me.”

Mike Tomlin said in his post-game press conference that he did not know what happened on the errant snap. He did not get a chance to talk with Fields or Frazier. Rookie center Zach Frazier wasn’t quite sure what happened, either.

“You know, I got the tap and snapped the ball. So, I was in the middle of making a call when I got the tap, just got the call out, and I just have to snap it,” Frazier said. “I don’t know what exactly happened on it, but it’s unfortunate.”

McCormick looking at Frazier here and Frazier snapping the ball. Obviously Zach jumped the gun w a perfect snap Fields wasn’t expecting. Tough one. #Steelers pic.twitter.com/hVML2DnUTs

— David Todd (@DavidMTodd) September 29, 2024

Fields finished with 312 yards passing and one touchdown with a 104.0 quarterback rating. He also rushed for 55 yards yards and two touchdowns. Outside of a crucial sack/fumble in the third quarter, Fields had a pretty solid outing. After the turnover, Fields led the Steelers to three consecutive touchdowns, but was unable to get at least a field goal on the final possession.

Fields and Frazier both said the offense needs to get out to faster starts. Fields attributed it to execution.

“Just poor execution. Poor focus,” Fields said. “It’s simple. It’s not a complicated question. We just got to be more focused and come out hot. What we were doing in the second half, that’s what we should have did coming out. Ran out of time at the end and that’s kind of how the games goes. That’s why you can’t warmup to things.”

“I really believe that we were going to go down there and score, “Frazier added. “I feel like we had the momentum. It’s just unfortunate. We can’t start slow like that, though. We need to start fast.”

Alan Saunders contributed reporting from Indianapolis.