Will the Steelers find the right way to deploy QB Justin Fields?

PITTSBURGH — Like the snow that fell in Cleveland Thursday night, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense was slow in the loss to the Browns until a late spurt erased a 12-point deficit and nearly helped the Steelers escape Huntington Bank Field with a victory.

Until two touchdowns in the fourth quarter Thursday, the Russell Wilson-led offense, which ranks 30th in red zone touchdown percentage, had failed to score a touchdown in 20 consecutive possessions over two games. The drought raised questions about the viability of a boom-or-bust unit led by a big-armed, nearly 36-year-old who was the fourth-most sacked quarterback a year ago.

Coach Mike Tomlin restored a healthy Wilson to the starting job six weeks ago not only because it was the spot he won in the offseason, but also because his penchant for throwing the deep ball could ignite the passing game in a way that Justin Fields had not. and open up the running game even more.

For two games, that’s exactly what happened. Since then, results with Wilson at quarterback have been consistently inconsistent. The Steelers enter Week 13 at 8-3, but a continued trend of big plays combined with sacks and stalled red zone trips cast doubt on the team’s ability to make a deep run in the playoffs, let alone a true Super Bowl -challenger.

In the first two weeks of Wilson’s tenure as starter, the Steelers increased their scoring average from 20.7 points per game. game with Fields to 31.5 points and 298.3 yards of offense to 417.5. Wilson wasn’t perfect, but he paced the Steelers with three passing touchdowns, one rushing score, no turnovers and five sacks, including just one in his debut against the New York Jets.

Recently, however, the offense — and Wilson — have shown signs of regression. The Steelers are averaging 21.6 points in their last three games and have gone under 20 in their last two. Wilson has four touchdowns to two interceptions in that stretch and was sacked 11 times. Steelers quarterbacks have been sacked on 9.3% of passes this season, though that rate is up to 10.48% over the last three games, tied for fifth-most and fourth-most in the league, respectively. A year ago, Steelers quarterbacks were sacked on just 6.36% of passes.

“It took us too long to warm up to the action,” Tomlin said of Cleveland’s three first-half drives. “They brought it, and they brought it right away early.”

Although the Steelers scored 28 points in the win against the Commanders, Wilson completed just 9-of-21 attempts for 108 yards with three sacks, an interception and two touchdowns through three quarters. In that span, two plays accounted for more than half of Wilson’s 108 yards — a 34-yard completion to receiver George Pickens on 2nd-and-20 and a 26-yard catch-and-run by running back Jaylen Warren. But in the fourth quarter of that game, Wilson was nearly flawless, connecting on 5-of-7 attempts for 87 yards with no sacks, no interceptions and a game-winning touchdown.

“I didn’t think it was our cleanest game in terms of efficiency,” offensive coordinator Arthur Smith said of the Commanders game. “I thought we were too boom-or-bust. But I thought in the fourth quarter we started to wear them down. I thought we made plays in critical moments in the red zone and certainly on third down… That’s why you” We have to be sober and really objective. … In a game like (against the Ravens), we have to play more efficiently.”

The Steelers did the opposite in that case. Although they beat the Ravens, they did not score a touchdown on any of their four trips to the red zone, had one interception in the end zone, and scored only nine points from three Ravens turnovers and two missed field goals. That game also marked the beginning of a seven-quarter touchdown drought that stretched until the fourth quarter of the loss to the Browns. At the time, it matched the Jacksonville Jaguars for the longest active streak without a touchdown.

And while Wilson appeared efficient, completing 21-of-28 attempts for 270 yards, he was again a boom-or-bust playmaker, most obviously when facing the Browns’ pass rush. Wilson was pressured on 15-of-33 dropbacks (45%), marking the highest pressure he has faced this season. Although he completed 60% of his attempts for 97 yards on such throws, he was also sacked four times.

The Steelers have the kind of quarterback problem for which there is no easy answer. Although Wilson has more big plays than Fields — 39 completions of at least 20 yards to Fields’ 24 — the former Chicago Bears quarterback has accounted for more red zone touchdowns with three passing touchdowns and five rushing touchdowns. Wilson, meanwhile, has four passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown and one interception.

Fields also has a better red zone QBR (92.2) and completion percentage (57.1%) than Wilson (8.9 QBR, 34.6% completion percentage), but 90% of Wilson’s red zone drives have turned into points, while 83.8% of Fields finished with points. Of those drives, 40% of Wilson’s have been touchdowns versus 50% of Fields’ resulting in touchdowns.

While Wilson has still been more effective moving the ball downfield, Fields has been more effective in the red zone. That doesn’t necessarily mean the Steelers need to make a wholesale change at quarterback, but it could signal the need to change how and when the Steelers deploy Fields.

The long-awaited Fields package made its debut against the Ravens and reappeared against the Browns. Although Fields played eight snaps Thursday night, only one was in the red zone, and it resulted in a 3-yard Warren touchdown. His snaps also included a 2-yard loss on fourth down, a pre-snap penalty, a fourth-quarter 30-yard run and a deep third-down incompletion to Pickens that turned into a mishit punt and a short field for the Browns .

Even the 30-yard run was something of a disappointment for Fields, who said he was “sick,” didn’t run for a touchdown and needs to do a better job of staying warm on the sidelines. Afterward, Fields admitted that the inconsistent quarterback rotation affected his timing and rhythm.

“I guess it does, but at the end of the day it’s what my job is, so you can’t complain,” he said. “And like I said, any time I get a chance and an opportunity to go on the field and help my team, I’m happy to do it.”

The Steelers still lead the division after losing to the Browns, but with four more divisional games and a date with the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas, their hopes were to earn their first home playoff game since 2020 and end a playoff win streak that stretches going into 2016 depends on finding an effective solution at quarterback.

Information from ESPN Research was used in this piece.