"Why is Justin Fields in the game?": Steelers fans raise questions at OC for benching Russell Wilson 

Steelers might have named Russell Wilson for the remainder of the 2024 NFL season but that does not mean Justin Fields does not have a role to play in their games going forward. The former Bears quarterback began the year as the starter when the Super Bowl-winning veteran was injured but ceded that spot when the ex-Denver star became available.

That has proved to be an inspired decision as Russell Wilson had a 4-0 record coming into Week 12 against the Browns. He had been instrumental in leading the Steelers to an 8-2 record, which put them in the top spot in the AFC North. However, one thing he is not is being as mobile as he used to be back in his heyday with the Seattle Seahawks.

Therefore, offensive coordinator Arthur Smith decided that he would employ Justin Fields in situations where Pittsburgh faced a fourth-and-short and wanted to go for it. He used the quarterback twice in the first quarter against the Browns and both times it did not work out well.

In one instance, the cadence caught the offensive line off and they were penalized for a false start. The other time the designed play failed as they were stopped in the backfield and Pittsburgh turned the ball over Cleveland on downs.

Fans immediately questioned why Arthur Smith wanted to go with Justin Fields when Russell Wilson was available. The veteran might have a better awareness of play design and can run short distances. They took to X/Twitter to vent their frustration and here are some of the reactions.

Others were more charitable towards the young quarterback and called out the offensive coordinator for a bad play, with some saying that removing the veteran starter signaled to the Browns defense that it was probably going to be a quarterback run call. Here are some more responses.

"Bad play call leave Wilson in they know fields gonna run" - said one.

"What a stupid ass 4th down play from the Steelers" - opined another.

"You literally can not draw up a more predictable play call than that lol... Might as well keep Russ in and go for it... Fields comes in the browns know what they are doing lol" - concurred a third.

Steelers OC had previously mentioned packages where Justin Fields might take over from Russell Wilson

Arthur Smith had previously mentioned that Justin Fields was not going to be frozen out for the rest of the season and there was a chance he would take over from Russell Wilson when the opportunity presented itself. Ever since the veteran replaced the youngster, the latter had not seen the field but the offensive coordinator made it clear that it could change this week, noting,

“It’ll be ready to go when we need it [packages for Fields]. Maybe it’ll be this Sunday, maybe it’ll be next Sunday. I’m very confident when we break it out, it will make a difference.”

While Arthur Smith had not tipped his hand on whether it would be used in Week 12, it became evident that those special packages were ready to go. However, they did not make much difference as he had intended the first two times they tried it against the Browns.