Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images
Plus more winners and losers from Week 3 in the NFL.
Conventional football wisdom dictates that a player shouldn’t lose their position on a depth chart due to injury. Once a time-worn practice, this tradition has largely fallen by the wayside as teams understand the importance of capturing lightning in a bottle, riding with the hot hand, and seizing the moment in front of them.
Justin Fields is this lightning in a bottle when it comes to the Steelers. He is their hot hand. The quarterback is seizing his moment, and the only thing that could ruin it now is adherence to stale football adages and turning the reins over to Russell Wilson.
That is the reality facing the 3-0 Steelers this week with Wilson reportedly returning to practice, a Week 4 game against the Colts in his sights. It wasn’t long ago that Wilson was the obvious choice for Pittsburgh, the veteran they set their sights on from the moment it was rumored he was on the way out of Denver. Now it’s impossible to imagine the Steelers benching Fields and shifting to Wilson based on the caliber of play they’re getting out of their other new QB acquired in the offseason.
Fields had been functionally fine in Weeks 1 and 2, but that’s about all you could really say about his play. Week 3 represented a stratospheric jump both in the caliber of throws he was making against the Chargers, but also how in command of the offense he looked. It wasn’t just Fields’ best passing outing since becoming a Steeler, but arguably the best he’s ever had, period.
If we break down this play into its component parts we can see just how far Justin Fields has come as a quarterback. Five pass rushers are coming, and Fields quickly realizes two things:
They have the protection to match this rush
The coverage is sitting in zone
Fields realized as soon as the ball is snapped that Cordarelle Patterson coming off motion is covered. He then looks to the center of the field, noticing that neither Pat Freiermuth nor George Pickens are going to be open because their route depth falls right into the zone.
There is no planet in which Calvin Austin III was the primary on this play. At best he was the fourth read on this play. Fields realized that Austin III had space in between the zones, and delivered a dart, standing tall in the pocket and not reacting to the pressure closing in. Not just in big way like scrambling out, as he’d so often too in Chicago, but there was a calmness to Fields’ feet we just haven’t seen from him before.
This is a sign that Fields has re-learned that he can trust an offensive line after years of taking beatings. He understands that his Pittsburgh teammates will hold their blocks, and he’s settled as a result. When the dust settled on the afternoon Fields finished as one of the top passers on the day: 25-for-32, 245 yards, 1 ID, 1 INT — as well as a rushing touchdown. Was it an absolutely perfect game? No, but the Steelers don’t need perfect to win games. They simply need someone to execute explosive plays when they present themselves, and understand that the identity of this team is to grind down opponents with the run and defense.
At this point the only reason to move Fields to the bench and swap in Russ is misguided loyalty because Wilson won the job in training camp. There is absolutely no justification for moving off a 3-0 quarterback who is playing the best football of his career right now, and who is still just scratching the surface of his potential in the league. It comes down to what Pittsburgh’s end goals are, not just for 2024, but the future.
Sure, the team can shift to Wilson, and there are some things to like there. He’s a little more careful with the ball, he probably won’t throw a bad interception — but he’s also a risk-averse veteran now. This 2024 version of Russ isn’t going to generate explosive plays for you, and he’s not much of a leader. When you cap all this off with the fact he’s 35-years-old you have, at best, a short-term rental of an iffy player who might not be any better than you’re getting right now.
On the other hand there’s 25-year-old Justin Fields who could be the long-term quarterback you’ve been desperate for. Fields is athletic enough to make big plays, humble enough to embody the culture of the organization, and while he’ll need to be paid next year, at least you’ve spent time kicking the tires for a season to make an educated call on whether he’s your future, or a fling.
The Steelers embody the idea of winning ugly. They relish in it as an organization. Mike Tomlin’s personality oozes through the entire football team and has his team believing that they can always win as long as they do the little things right and execute. As it stands it’s Justin Fields who has Pittsburgh out to this 3-0 start, and they have to keep soaring with him at QB. To make a change now would be the worst decision of the year.
Winner: Andy Dalton
Andy Dalton had the best passing game of the 2024 season — just as we all expected. Sure, it was against the Raiders (who we’ll talk about in a bit), but the shift of the Carolina offense with Dalton under center was simply astonishing. Dalton didn’t just play well, he was absolutely on fire, tossing dot balls to receivers in stride, putting Diontae Johnson in positions where he could use his YAC ability, and carving up the Las Vegas secondary like it was nothing.
Nobody knows what the future holds for Bryce Young, but Dalton made this situation a lot more compelling. In one game he proved that the Panthers offense can be run effectively, and it makes for a very difficult decision when it comes to Young’s future in Carolina.
Next week vs. Cincinnati will be a litmus test, but Dalton single-handedly turned back the doomsday clock.
Winner: Brian Flores
A lot is being made of Sam Darnold when it comes to the Vikings, and rightfully so — but Brian Flores is the mastermind of what’s happening in Minnesota right now. It’s one thing to pilot an offense with the likes of Justin Jefferson and a solid offensive line, but another entirely to shut down back-to-back weeks of Brock Purdy and C.J. Stroud, reducing both to dust in the process.
Flores’ knack for defensive creativity is where he sets himself apart from a majority of coordinators around the NFL. We’ve seen his ability to scheme around a lack of talent in the secondary before, but against Houston he unleashed a pass rush that sacked Stroud five times, pressuring him into throwing two picks as well.
This might be the best defense in the NFL that simply doesn’t get enough credit because they lack a marquee, nationally-known player. Make no mistake, this team is elite. They’ve allowed the fewest points in the league through three games, and everything is clicking.
Loser: Las Vegas Raiders
It’s one thing to be beaten by the Panthers. Another to get beaten pillar to post by Andy Dalton. It’s on a whole other level to absolutely quit on a game the way the Raiders did in the second half on Sunday.
There are much, much worse teams than the Raiders who haven’t quit during blowouts this season. It speaks to a wonky locker room culture, and head coach Antonio Pierce knows it needs to be fixed, pronto.
There’s no doubt this is a retooling year, but effort like the Raiders gave on Sunday is unacceptable.
Winner: Malik Willis
I’m a big Malik Willis fan. I’ll own my bias on that one. I liked him leading up to the 2022 NFL Draft, and thought he landed in a really unfortunate place at the worst possible time with the Titans in flux.
Now he’s been thrust into a role he wasn’t ready for, and is absolutely shining on the Packers. There’s no doubt he’s still benefitting from limited defensive film to pick him apart, but that doesn’t change the fact he’s making big explosive plays as they present themselves, and he’s been in total command of the offense.
It feels like the win over the Titans cemented that someone, somewhere will want Willis as their quarterback in 2025.
