The Growth of Justin Fields

 

November 8, 2022

 

The Bears lost to the Miami Dolphins 35-32 last Sunday at Soldier Field. Disregard the won and lost record. Fields has started to put things together and it seems we have found the quarterback of the future. In all my years of watching the Bears I’ve never been so excited about a Bears quarterback. I can’t remember the last time the Bears scored four touchdowns two weeks in row. 

Fields is the primary reason the Bears‘ offense is on a roll. He ran the ball 15 times for a record 178 yards. The only downside is the Bears called a quarterback run only about 8 times. Fields picked up a majority of his yards on scrambles.  Fields showed off his elusiveness and speed which was fun to watch. His passing numbers weren’t great as Fields was 17-28 for 123 yards.

 Fields’ results are the fault of receivers who can’t get open or catch passes. Just imagine how good he could be if he had some help. The Bears had a couple of chances in the closing minutes to tie the game or take the lead. They would have been in field goal range if the ref doesn’t blow a pass interference call. The game ended when Bear receiver Equanimeous St. Brown dropped a pass right in his hands which, if caught, gives the Bears a first down. This game was also a coming out party for tight end Cole Kmet. He had five catches, two for touchdowns. He also ran the ball once for eight yards and picked up a first down on a direct snap.

 The defense is a joke. Miami scored on four out of five possessions to start the game. The only time they didn’t score was on a missed field goal. There was no pressure on Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, and he had all the time world to hit wide receivers Tyrek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. Most every quarterback can look good with no pressure, and good offenses will run up multiple points. The only positive is that rookie linebacker Jack Sanborn replacing Roquan Smith had seven tackles.

The Bears defense is so bad that they can’t win a game when scoring 30 points per game. This is okay this year however, they need to fix their talent deviancies heading into next year. In the meantime watching Fields continue to grow should be exciting.