Saunders: Steelers Need to Let Justin Fields Loose in Red Zone
The Pittsburgh Steelers need to let Justin Fields loose in the red zone to maximize the potential of their offense.
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers are riding high, winning four straight games since making the switch from Justin Fields to Russell Wilson at quarterback and five straight overall, including a crucial AFC North showdown with their arch-rival Baltimore Ravens on Sunday to go a game and a half up in the division.
The Steelers offense has come alive with the veteran signal-caller at the helm. In four games with Wilson, the Steelers have scored 27.25 points per game. They averaged 20.67 points per game in six games with Fields running the show. That’s a big improvement, but it’s come with an interesting decline.
The Steelers have gotten less efficient in the red zone with Wilson, and dramatically so in terms of drives that pierce the opponent’s 10-yard line.
Both Fields and Wilson have led 11 such drives this season, not counting the final drive against the Los Angeles Chargers, when Najee Harris was tackled inside the 10, but the team did not run another play. Wilson has had the same number of drives in four games as opposed to six, so he’s obviously playing much better overall.
But Fields has been the player in that deep area of the red zone. In Fields’ 11 drives, the Steelers scored eight touchdowns and one field goal. In Wilson’s the Steelers scored four touchdowns and five field goals. Fields was stopped on downs once in Atlanta, and Jaylen Warren’s fumble against the Washington Commanders was the other non-scoring drive.
That’s 5.4 points per drive for Fields and 3.9 points per drive for Wilson. At Wilson’s rate of 2.75 such drives per game, that’s over four points per game the Steelers are leaving on the table with their less-efficient red zone offense.
Of course, switching back to Fields overall would’t solve that problem, but using him in the red zone, and particularly in the short area near the goal line, might. Fields has five rushing touchdowns and is sixth in the league in completion percentage inside the red zone.
The Steelers have been promising a package of plays for Fields if Wilson is the starter all season, all the way back to training camp, and they finally broke it out a bit on Sunday. Fields played three snaps, running two designed quarterback runs for 17 yards.
They could certainly use him more than that. In the red zone is one area. 3rd and 4th and 1 — where the Steelers were stopped twice on Sunday — is another.
“We haven’t been bashful about our intentions,” head coach Mike Tomlin said. “I know sometimes you think we make stuff up, but he is a capable dude. We’re going to utilize him. He’s really talented. I’m excited about both of these quarterbacks we have on our roster. They’re both going to be reasons why we’re going to be successful and have been. Equally as important as that is they’re really good people, man. They’re supportive of each other. They’re ‘hand-in-the-pile’ guys, and Justin has really reflected that.”
Wilson himself said on Sunday that he’s supportive of a greater role for the younger player in the offense.
“Justin’s so talented, man,” Wilson said. “He’s such a great teammate and just whatever it takes for us to win and get another first down was key. I think obviously he did a really good job on that zone and just reading it out. He’s such a great athlete and can do so many things for us. He’s a great player, he’s a great teammate, he’s a hard worker. We just love doing this thing together, man.”
Sounds like a relationship that could be exploited even further than it has been so far.
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