In this week’s “3 & Out” column, we look at Najee Harris’s breakout day, Patrick Queen’s best game as a Steeler and why Justin Fields should remain the starting quarterback following Pittsburgh’s 32-13 win over Las Vegas in Week 6.

Najee breaks out

It had been a slow start to the season for Najee Harris. Through five games, Pittsburgh’s feature back had gained 270 yards on 82 carries for an average of just 3.3 yards per attempt. In back-to-back losses to Indianapolis and Dallas, Harris had just 61 rushing yards total. He had looked slow through the hole at times and seemed to lack vision. The fact the Steelers had chosen not to pick up the fifth-year option on Harris’s rookie contract suggested this could be his final season in a Pittsburgh uniform. Harris’s sluggish start did nothing to quell that speculation.

It was refreshing, then, to see Harris look like a dominant back on Sunday. On a day where the Steelers could not produce explosive plays in the passing game, Harris did so on the ground. He rumbled for 106 yards on 14 carries, often breaking tackles or carrying two or three defenders for extra yards. On Pittsburgh’s seven-play, 80-yard drive in the 3rd quarter that extended their lead to 22-7, Harris accounted for 68 of those. These included a 26-yard run where he made a beautiful cut to his right and faked a Las Vegas safety out of his shoes, and a 36-yard run where he caught a toss sweep, broke through two tackles at the line of scrimmage, then pulled away from the defense and launched himself to the pylon for a touchdown:

Holy hell this is a man’s run. Najee carrying the offense today.

(Btw – I think someone tweeted the Steelers should throw out the toss sweep play. What a moron…) pic.twitter.com/qJdLICBq1i

— Kevin Smith (@KTSmithFFSN) October 13, 2024

On a field goal drive earlier in the game, Harris made 15 yards almost exclusively on his own. He was contacted at the line of scrimmage but lowered his shoulders, kept his legs driving, and with a late assist from Pat Freiermuth, willed his way to a first down:

Najee Harris with 15 of the toughest yards you'll see 😤

📺: #PITvsLV on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/N0pAvRGcGo

— NFL (@NFL) October 13, 2024

Harris’s carries are down this season, which means his legs are fresh. He seemed quicker on Sunday as a result. While I’m not sure he can keep this going from week-to-week — the Raiders helped his cause with shoddy tackling, and if the Steelers can’t open up the field with their passing game, Harris will continue to confront heavy boxes stacked against the run — what he demonstrated on Sunday was that he can still dominate a game from time to time. That was blessing for an offense that needed a playmaker in the worst way.

Queen is king

Readers of a certain age may vaguely remember the iconic and quirky 1970s television hit “The Gong Show,” which featured a clearly inebriated host (Chuck Barris) introducing a cast of moderately-talented guests who were routinely gonged off the stage by C-list celebrities for performing acts like yodeling and juggling bowling balls. A regular on the show was a guy known only as “Gene Gene The Dancing Machine,” who would come out at some random moment and dance — terribly — to an instrumental musical number while Barris went into some sort of substance-induced frenzy:

The Gong Show & Gene Gene the Dancing Machine pic.twitter.com/ealB4xXa9L

— RexScott (@RexScott69) October 1, 2024

It was the 70s, man. What can I say?

I thought about Gene Gene The Dancing Machine on Sunday as I watched Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen trample the Raiders. Queen was everywhere, running from sideline-to-sideline, snuffing out screen passes, hammering ball-carriers. He racked up 13 tackles and was a menace overall. It was his best game yet as a Steeler, and it spearheaded a defensive effort that stymied Las Vegas for most of the contest.

At one point, sitting on my couch and taking notes as I watched the game, I said out loud, to no one in particular, “Queen Queen The Tackling Machine.”

It hasn’t been that way all season for Pittsburgh’s prized free agent acquisition. Queen has been slow to display the form that made him a two-time Pro Bowler in Baltimore. He has overshot gaps, missed tackles, miscommunicated assignments and generally performed below the level of expectation fans had for him upon his arrival. Much of that has had to do with acclimating to a new system and new playing partners in Elandon Roberts and Payton Wilson. Queen is also wearing the green dot as the defensive captain and bearing the burden of calling the defensive signals. It’s been a big transition, one that appears to have slowed him down early in the season.

On Sunday in Las Vegas, however, Queen looked exactly like the player fans had anticipated. He was rangy, fast and physical, and he appeared to be vocal with his teammates in ways that were both supportive and demanding. It was great to see, as the 25-year old appears to be settling in and playing to his accustomed level.

#Steelers than force a three an out in response to the Raiders opening drive.

Patrick Queen with a tone setting play on first down pic.twitter.com/UZKIylrBnA

— Rob Gregson (@NFL_Rob) October 13, 2024

For the season, Queen is second on the team in tackles with 43, behind only fellow free agent signee DeShon Elliott (45). His leadership appears evident. And, remarkably, Queen has played all 368 defensive snaps so far. That versatility does resemble Shazier, who, like Queen, rarely left the field no matter the situation. The hype accompanying Queen’s arrival may have been a bit much, but if he continues at his current pace, his production is likely to match it.

QB1?

Never has punctuation been such a topic in a column about football. After Week 2 of the season, we titled this section “QB1?,” which alluded to the question of whether Justin Fields had done enough to remain the starter at quarterback moving forward. By Week 3 it was “QB1.” It seemed — then — that Fields, coming off an impressive outing against the Chargers, had earned the job outright, regardless of the health of Russell Wilson. Now, after a pair of losses and an uneven performance against Las Vegas, it’s fair to ask whether we’re back to “QB1?”

In a word, no.

I’m no Wilson-hater, nor am I a Fields apologist. I want whatever gives the Steelers the best chance to succeed. For me, that means retaining Fields, whether Wilson is ready to play or not.

Granted, Fields missed some open throws on Sunday and threw a horrendous interception that was thankfully wiped away by a roughing the passer penalty. He is not a finished product at quarterback. If the Steelers continue with him, they will have to live with that fact.

However, Fields’s athleticism, and the plays it produces, are exactly what this offense needs at present. Pittsburgh lacks the ability to create explosives and to make things happen when the structure of a designed play has broken down. Fields provides both. His passing numbers were pedestrian against Las Vegas — 14 of 24 for 145 yards — but he rushed for 59 yards and two scores and scrambled out of several would-be sacks. Avoiding those negative plays, which Fields has done well, and protecting the football (Fields has just one interception), have been as important to the offense as the splashier plays other quarterbacks seem to make.

That includes Wilson, who is a more developed passer but whose mobility is not what it was earlier in his career. Wilson might be able to make more plays down the field, but with Pittsburgh’s limited weapons at receiver, will those plays be available? And, with a patchwork offensive line that had trouble protecting the quarterback on Sunday, will Wilson be able to maneuver out of the pocket and avoid losses the way Fields has? I suspect not.

Fields is not a perfect quarterback by any stretch. But he seems like a better fit for how the Steelers are currently constructed on offense. That should prompt the coaching staff to retain him — for now — as the team’s starter.

And Out…

Pittsburgh’s opponent this week is the New York Jets, whom they will host on Sunday night. The Jets, like Pittsburgh, are prime suitors for Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams. Adams has history with Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers because of their time together in Green Bay. With New York’s offense among the worst in the NFL, the Jets could certainly use him. So could the Steelers, who are getting limited production at best from their receiving corps. It’s possible at kickoff Sunday night that Adams is in the building. Whether he’s wearing black-and-gold or green-and-white could be the question.