Stephen A. Smith Hits Steelers With Harsh Justin Fields Truth

The Pittsburgh Steelers opened the 2025 campaign with a hard-fought 34-32 victory over the New York Jets, and while Aaron Rodgers starred for the Steelers under center as he faced off against his former team, his predecessor in Pittsburgh, Justin Fields, looked pretty good on the other side of the field for New York, too.

Fields was in complete control against the Steelers’ high-powered defense, throwing for 218 yards and one touchdown, while also rushing for 46 yards and two more scores. Rodgers got the better of him in this one after he racked up 244 yards and four touchdowns, but Fields was quite impressive in Week 1.

Of course, Fields started six games for Pittsburgh last season, posting a 4-2 record before Russell Wilson got healthy and replaced him as the team’s starting quarterback. The Steelers could have re-signed Fields in free agency this offseason, but instead, they let him leave and set their sights on Rodgers.

For one, the team’s decision to choose Rodgers over Fields paid off, but will that remain true moving forward? Popular sports analyst Stephen A. Smith openly wondered if Pittsburgh made a mistake by letting Fields, who is only 26 years old, leave in free agency while getting nothing in return.

“I didn’t expect that,” Smith said of Fields’ Week 1 performance on “First Take.” “If Justin Fields continues to look like that, I’d be looking at the Steelers like, ‘What the hell did you let him go for? … He’s considerably younger, the brother is doing this. What the hell did you let him walk out of the building for?’ That’s the kind of performance he put forth.”

You can’t put too much weight into one game of football, but Fields caught a lot of folks’ attention by carving up the Steelers’ defense in Week 1. At the end of the day, though, Pittsburgh got the win, and that’s all that matters. They will look to pick up their second win of the season when they take on the Seattle Seahawks in Week 2.

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