Despite the media rumor, Russell Wilson will be the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting quarterback in Week 1. Everything else is just talk. That makes Justin Fields the Steelers’ backup. But he’s too talented to stay on the bench, and Pittsburgh should give him plays and take advantage of his athleticism.
During the final game of the season on Saturday against the Detroit Lions, the concepts that the Steelers could implement with Fields were presented in detail. Let’s analyze them.
Shared Zone (Read QB)
3rd and 3. A variation of the traditional split zone with a running back on the carry, with the Steelers adding a read component to the play. TE Connor Heyward, lined up as a Y-off on this play (often an indicator of split zone/flow action). At the snap, Heyward moves across the formation as he would in a traditional split zone and blocks the end man on the LOS (EMOL). Fields can either hand the ball off to the back or pull and keep it himself.
That’s what Fields does here as Heyward cuts the EMOL. The WR also tries to grab the safety when he’s close, although he gets sucked in by the RB on this play.
Fields falls forward and gets the first attempt.
QB Power
Late in the drive. Low red zone/goal line. QB power out of nowhere to the perimeter. TE MyCole Pruitt, lined up in the slot to the left of the offense in the following clip, looks like he’s going to block/crack the play-side DE. But the RDE comes forward and tackles LT Dan Moore Jr., which may mess up this play.
LG Isaac Seumalo climbs to the second level as Fields makes the planned run to the left. Unfortunately, the pursuit flies in from behind the B gap and takes Fields down just before the goal line. Tough attempt for RT Broderick Jones, but he could have had a little more lateral contact here.
Still, it gets the ball to the 1 and is a good concept to force the defense to defend anything out of nowhere. Not just the pass, but also the designed QB run, something Pittsburgh hasn’t had in a long time.
Zone reading
Traditional zone read. Read the end, tell him he’s wrong. In this case, eyes on the ROLB, #95. Intentionally unblocked while Fields is reading him. The ROLB doesn’t press down and attacks Fields further up front, leading to the “give” read at the mesh point to RB La’Mical Perine.
Everyone else is blocked and TE Pat Freiermuth blocks the RDT, allowing Perine to score a walk-in touchdown.
I also like the release of TE Darnell Washington to sell passes and prevent DB No. 17 from entering the play.
If the ROLB had pushed back, Fields would have kept the ball and carried it in himself.
That’s important in the red zone. It’s hard to gain space there because the field is tight and space is at a premium. When the defense is forced to deal with the quarterback as part of their running drills, their life becomes harder. When they can read those players without blocking them, the offense’s life becomes easier. That combination is winning football and the things Fields can do in short yardage moments or at the goal line.
Pittsburgh won’t use this in every scenario, and Fields’ playing time will fluctuate from game to game. But defenses will be forced to invest time and calories training against it. And even when they see it, it’s hard to stop.
