All but 14 of his career-high 103 rushing yards were improvised on scrambles, including his 22-yard highlight-reel touchdown run that, per NFL Next Gen Stats, had a 2.3 percent chance of scoring.
The stakes couldn’t be higher: the only thing worse than a 3-5 season is having to play the rest of it with a promising rookie quarterback on injured reserve.
“We just have to keep finding that balance of how much you want your NFL quarterback to get hit,” offensive coordinator Bill Lazor said.
When the Bears ran read-option run concepts — when Fields could either hand the ball off or fake a handoff and keep it, depending on how hard the defensive end crashed down — the 49ers chose to crash.
The Steelers will have a similar choice to make.
I imagine he’s gaining a sense of comfort of when to utilize those skills and when it’s most appropriate and how to take advantage of his talents with each passing week.
Because he can be a running quarterback or he can dice you up with his arm.