Justin Fields: 'Drinking a Different Color Gatorade' Won't Fix Steelers' Slow Starts

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Justin Fields doesn't believe there's a shortcut to addressing the consistently slow starts they've had on offense to open the 2024 NFL season.

"It's not a pregame routine," he told reporters after Sunday's 27-24 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. "It's not doing something special or drinking a different color Gatorade. It is none of that. It's just coming out first play, coming out focused, ready to go.

"And we didn't do that at the start. We got going as time went along, but it is not mystical. It is performance at the end of the day, and we didn't come out with the right intent."

Pittsburgh fell behind by 17 points to Indianapolis early into the second quarter, and that continued a trend so far. Through four games, the Steelers have scored a combined 29 first-half points.

Running back Najee Harris echoed Fields when he said he didn't have a straightforward solution for the offense.

"It's just that we just got to execute on our behalf," he said. "They're going to come out there on certain defenses to stop the run. We know that we just got to execute it. Some teams play different structures on stopping it. Some guys have a free hat on certain schemes and stuff like that. We got to see that and take advantage of it. And second half we kind of did better at that."

The optimistic side of the argument is that a lot went wrong for the Steelers and they still nearly overcame a two-score deficit. Were it not for a mistimed snap on Pittsburgh's final drive, the team may have gotten into position for a game-tying field goal or even found a go-ahead score.

The more pessimistic take is that a 3-0 start masked larger problems. Harris is averaging a career-low 3.4 yards per carry. Wide receiver George Pickens remains equal parts electric and confounding. The offense is still fairly conservative despite having a new voice (Arthur Smith) calling the plays.

A Week 5 matchup against Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and the Dallas Cowboys will present a good test for the Steelers, one in which their true level for better or worse could be revealed.