Steelers' Justin Fields Put On Blast By Coach In Chicago: 'It's Just Bad Football'

The Pittsburgh Steelers have had an uncharacteristically active offseason, being heavily involved in the trade market and making a few splashes in free agency. The quarterback room is now completely revamped after General Manager Omar Khan went out and signed Russell Wilson and then traded with the Chicago Bears for Justin Fields. Fields has started his career with a rough first three years in Chicago, and he is now looking to get back on track in Pittsburgh.

Fields' time in Chicago is considered by most as a failure. There were a number of reasons why it didn't work out between the quarterback and the Bears, one being the dysfunction in Chicago. Fields had two head coaches and two different offensive coordinators in three seasons, and outside of acquiring DJ Moore, there was no real attempt made by Chicago to get Fields help on that side of the ball. The fault isn't entirely the organization's, though. Fields struggled to make the jump to the NFL, and he has recently been called out by an anonymous coach from his time in the Windy City for his poor play, which was reported by Tyler Dunne.

"He'd be great single-wing quarterback if that was still around. Watch his eyes. He tries to see the whole thing and doesn't see anything. His eyes are all over the place and it's just really hard to watch. It's just bad football."

The single-wing offense is non-existent in today's NFL, it's one of the most simplistic offenses there is that relies on the run and has easy-to-learn pass concepts. It's used in youth football and by some high school programs, which says a lot about what this former coach thinks about Fields' ability to read and understand a NFL defense. There was clearly issues with Fields' play in Chicago when it came to reading coverages and understanding how to take advantage of them with the route concepts he was given.

Fields was near the top of the league in negative plays over the last three seasons, which includes turnovers and sacks. Due to Fields struggling to read defenses, he held the ball for longer than he should have, which allows the defense to get to him in the backfield. Pair that with a struggling offensive line and poor offensive weapons and it is a recipe for disaster.

Fields led the league in sacks taken in 2022 with 55 while missing two games, and he has been sacked 135 times in just 40 games to begin his career. Over those three seasons, he also committed 68 turnovers, 30 interceptions and 38 fumbles. These are fatal flaws that have been a part of Fields' game since entering the league in 2021, and are things he must clean up moving forward if he wants to get his career back on the right track.

Steelers' Justin Fields Is Being Put In A Great Position To Overcome His Shortcomings

As it currently stands, Wilson is in "pole" position to be the Steelers starting quarterback for the 2024 season according to Head Coach Mike Tomlin, but is expected to be on a short leash. Like Fields, Wilson also struggles with negative plays. He tied Fields for the league lead in sacks during the 2022 season and has thrown 25 interceptions and fumbled 22 times over the last three years. Luckily for both quarterbacks, they will be playing in a quarterback-friendly offense under Arthur Smith, which relies heavily on the run.

Both quarterbacks have similar flaws and the key to becoming the Steelers starter for the foreseeable future will be overcoming them. Wilson is entering his 13th season in the league, so it will be more difficult to change the way he plays because he has been doing it for such a long time. Meanwhile, Fields is younger, and likely more open to change. This should give him the advantage when it comes to fixing these mistakes.