Justin Fields Stayed Classy To The End After Recent Benching

The Chicago Bears had no bad feelings about Justin Fields when they made the decision to move on. Quite the opposite. Everybody in the building loved him. However, his inability to progress as a passer necessitated a trade. Still, they did their best to accommodate him. They agreed to his desire to join the Pittsburgh Steelers, a place he felt had a winning tradition and would give him a chance to compete for the starting job. Thanks to an injury to Russell Wilson that gamble paid off.

Fields staked Pittsburgh to a 4-2 record, producing 10 total touchdowns and one interception along the way. Unfortunately, head coach Mike Tomlin still chose to give the reins back to Wilson, who is finally healthy. Fields had every opportunity to complain. Nobody would've blamed him. However, the quarterback remained what he's always been: honest and classy.

Justin Fields kept it real.

What he says is, at its core, the truth. If he had played better, there is no way Tomlin would've been able to justify benching him. The reality is people can still poke holes in Fields' performance. He's still only averaging 184 yards passing per game, which is lower than what he had with the Bears last year. One also can't overlook his six fumbles, further illustrating his inability to protect the football. Yes, the Steelers are 4-2. The problem is they've managed that despite the offense ranking 20th in scoring.

Tomlin has been around long enough to understand that Pittsburgh cannot win the playoffs with that setup. The last team to rank that low and win it all was the 2015 Denver Broncos (19th). That was almost a decade ago, and it was aided by the league's #1 defense. Pittsburgh has a good defense, but not one you'd call special. Is Justin Fields equipped to get by Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, C.J. Stroud, Joe Burrow, and Lamar Jackson? Unlikely. It sucks, but that is the reality.