Mike Tomlin wants more offense early in games. Here's how he can make that happen

There was plenty to like about the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 20-10 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. One thing that head coach Mike Tomlin didn’t like, though, was the team’s poor offensive start.

That’s understandable. After all, the Steelers went three-and-out on the first two series, netting minus-5 yards of offense.

Arthur Smith’s unit did have one really nice touchdown drive on the next possession. But aside from that, the club’s first-half production was three punts and a missed 62-yard field goal.

“Offensively, we didn’t start with the level of fluidity that I would like. We’ve got to get that solved and get it solved quickly,” Tomlin said Tuesday. “Thankfully, we were in our home venue and our defense was playing really good there at the early stages of the game to minimize some of that. We’re not assured of those things, particularly as we get into a hostile environment this week in (Indianapolis). That has our attention in terms of areas needing improvement or work.”

It wasn’t just Sunday’s seven-point, first-half effort. The Steelers have yet to exceed 10 points in the first half of any of their three games this season.

“In the early stages of the season, as you pursue and attain victory, you better continually work on things that could be troublesome for you as you continue through the journey,” Tomlin added. “Lack of fluidity in our starts — three-and-outs and things of that nature — just doesn’t tee us up to play the type of ball that we desire to play.”

In response to his comments, I advanced an idea to Tomlin. How about trying to hit a few more chunk plays? Look for a few more quick strikes in the first half from blossoming quarterback Justin Fields instead of hunting, pecking and probing their way through the first halves of games. Maybe dial up an early home-run shot down the field?

“You’re a lot more optimistic than I am,” Tomlin responded with a smile. “I’m just talking about converting the first third down or two. We started the game with two three-and-outs. I’m interested in converting more third downs when I talk about more fluidity.”

Well, you know me, Coach. I’m nothing if not a bastion of optimism.

But my boyish, whimsical good vibes aside, Fields was 11 for his first 11 to begin the first half of that game. Yet those 11 straight completions yielded a meager 64 yards. That’s almost impossible to do. How about opening things up a little in the first half instead of waiting until after halftime before trying to do so?

“I understand your question,” Tomlin replied. “But when I made that statement, I was thinking specifically about converting third downs and not warming up to that component of the game. Three-and-outs are not good for field positioning and establishing the right kind of mojo early in games.”

OK, but I’d argue that building that “mojo” may be aided by taking the restrictor plate off of Fields in the first 30 minutes of games.

And if you want better results on third downs, throw the ball beyond the sticks more often. Fields had only 12 such passes heading into the L.A. game. He completed eight of them, so do it more often.

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This whole conversation speaks to a larger looming issue Tomlin is facing. If the Steelers keep winning with Fields, and he keeps playing well, eventually Tomlin is going to have to make a decision if Fields is really going to be the starter long-term or not.

Russell Wilson’s calf isn’t going to stay injured forever, even though at this point it is giving the Steelers a convenient excuse to continue starting Fields while leaving their depth chart unchanged and avoiding an awkward conversation with the veteran QB they signed in the offseason.

If Tomlin wants to stick with Fields, the coach has to ask himself why he is doing so. Does he think Fields is playing well only because he is playing within the conservative constraints the Steelers are asking of him so he can win them over into giving him the job? If so, is that truly sustainable for 17 weeks? Will Fields be willing to play that way for four more months, and how can the offense grow the way Tomlin wants it to if that’s the case?

Or is Smith going to have to take the governor off of Fields and let the guy play loose and instinctively? Can he play well that way all year while still managing to avoid the mistakes and turnovers that plagued him in Chicago?

If Tomlin thinks the answers to these questions are “no,” then he should just give the keys to the offense to Wilson the moment his calf is deemed healthy enough to play.

That’s where my head was prior to Sunday. Get Wilson in the lineup ASAP.

But against the Chargers, Fields was good enough within the parameters of how the Steelers were asking him to play that I want to see more. When the reins have been relaxed in the second half of games, he has continued to be cautious, but effective.

This is a strange quarterback controversy in the sense that it’s not so much about two media camps, or two divisions of the fan base arguing with each other. It almost seems to be a case of Tomlin debating with himself.

Pretty soon, he’s going to have to give himself an answer.

Right now, I’ve come around to thinking that it should be Fields even when Wilson is given the green light until Fields gives us evidence to the contrary.

I guess that isn’t surprising. Cockeyed optimists like myself are easily swayed.

Listen: Tim Benz and Kevin Bowen from 107.5 The Fan in Indianapolis preview Steeelrs-Colts on Sunday