Bears' Justin Fields the latest mobile quarterback the Steelers must prepare to defend

At first blush, the matchup Monday night against Justin Fields presents a good chance for the Pittsburgh Steelers defense to fatten up on its sacks total.

The Steelers have led the NFL in that category four years in a row, and the Chicago Bears rookie quarterback has been sacked an NFL-high 26 times this season.

First, the Steelers need to figure out a way to catch Fields behind the line of scrimmage, and as he showed last weekend, that’s no sure thing.

In his sixth NFL start, Fields ran 10 times for a career-high 103 yards, and he made all of the highlight reels with a 22-yard touchdown run against the San Francisco 49ers.

Fields took the snap under center and scrambled to his right before losing his footing. He quickly gathered himself and broke to the left. After retreating about 8 yards behind the line, Fields found a seam along the left sideline and then cut back inside without ever being touched on his path to the end zone.

While Fields was sacked four times for the third game in a row — all Bears losses — the touchdown run was a snapshot of his growth since Chicago selected the former Ohio State passer with the No. 12 overall pick. He also became the third rookie quarterback in NFL history to rush for 100 yards, run for a touchdown and throw for one in a game.

“Every week you see more and more that he’s getting more comfortable,” Steelers defensive captain Cameron Heyward said. “He had that great scamper around the side. He never gives up on a play, and we have to make sure we play our best game.”

The Steelers have experience with defending quarterbacks who like to run — whether it is on designed plays, run/pass options or protection breakdowns in the pocket. They have faced Buffalo’s Josh Allen the past three seasons and play Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson twice a year.

“Mobile quarterbacks, they stress a defense,” Heyward said. “He is a young, mobile quarterback who is still growing and can beat you with his arm and his legs. We have our work cut out for us.”

The difference with Fields, of course, is that he is just a handful of games into his NFL career and just gaining his footing in his role as a starter. The Bears signed veteran Andy Dalton in free agency, and they have Super Bowl-winning quarterback Nick Foles on the roster.

The Dalton experiment, though, lasted less than three games. Fields replaced an injured Dalton in Week 3 and retained the starting job the following week despite Dalton’s return to health.

Fields has endured his share of hardships. In his first start, he was sacked nine times by the Browns, and he has thrown seven interceptions against just three touchdown passes. He has one 200-yard passing game to his credit while completing 59.5% of his passes.

The Steelers will try to harass Fields into making mistakes while not letting him break containment.

“We’ll let him see everything,” defensive coordinator Keith Butler said. “I’m not going to tell you what we’re going to do. We’ll wait and let him see. We’ll do our best to keep him from running the ball and put him in situations he’s not used to. We’re going to try to make him uncomfortable if we can.”

The more times the Steelers put Fields on the ground, the more hesitant he could be trying to run with the football.

“We want the threat of that hit all the time,” Butler said, “make them understand if they are going to run the ball, he’s a running back.”

A Bears reporter studied Fields’ tape from the 49ers game and determined five of his 10 runs came on designed rollouts or read/options. He had runs of 14 and 16 yards, totaling 47 on those carries. He had 56 yards, including the touchdown, on the four times he scrambled out of the pocket.

“We all know what type of athlete and type of player he is, let alone from a mobility standpoint,” cornerback Cam Sutton said. “He’s going to make the most of any situation like that when he has green grass and an open area to make room with his feet.

“We have to be ready to combat that.”