Justin Fields isn’t having the best start to his 2022 season. He’s yet to cross 200 yards passing in a game, has two touchdowns with four interceptions, and has been sacked 16 times. Chicago Bears fans are having trouble determining how they should feel about him. Some think this is early growing pains in a new offensive system made worse by a terrible supporting cast. Others believe a lot of the issues are self-inflicted on his part. He misses reads, seems indecisive, and isn’t always accurate.
That is why asking experts is often a good course of action. Trent Dilfer played in the NFL for a long time. He’s had highs, including a Pro Bowl in 1997 and a Super Bowl championship in 2000. He also had some spectacular lows. So he understands a lot of what Fields is going through. He also knows what to look for when it comes to red flags. After watching the game on Sunday against the New York Giants, he reached a swift conclusion.
Fields was not the problem. Dilfer explained why on Parkins & Spiegel for 670 The Score. It boils down to some bad luck and getting zero help.
Justin Fields is at the mercy of his surroundings.
That is the long and short of it. He’s made his own mistakes. That is undeniable. There have been times he’s made bad reads and still struggles navigating the pocket. Unfortunately, the amount of times he sees a clean pocket is rare. His offensive line has leaks everywhere. Both their tackles have been average at best. Center Sam Mustipher was steamrolled all afternoon in New York. That problem is further magnified by a wide receiving corps bereft of talent. Darnell Mooney was the only one doing anything in that game.
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Cole Kmet?
Dante Pettis?
Equanimeous St. Brown?
None of them did much of anything. Kmet had 16 yards on three catches. Pettis had a brutal third down drop. St. Brown was invisible. That is why Justin Fields must constantly take off running with the ball. If nobody else is going to make a play, it has to be him. He is on pace for 624 yards rushing. This is presuming he survives long enough to finish the season despite all the hits he’s taking.
Dilfer believes the quarterback isn’t the biggest problem with this offense. It’s hard to argue with him when rewatching the tape from Sunday.
Rodgers has played behind plenty of bad lines due to injury. So has Brady. Brady is literally doing it right now. Try again. He might not be winning every game. But he sure in hell isn’t throwing for 120 yards a game. But i’m not comparing any if those quarterbacks. They are seasoned vets. I am simply saying if Fields gets excuses for being young and inexperienced, why doesn’t the young inexperienced line get the same excuses??
Neither Aaron Rodgers nor Tom Brady could win with the lack of pass protection that Justin Fields gets.
There are problems all across the offense. But pretending Fields is not a large part of those problems is flat out nonsense. I agree he needs better protection for sure. But what about the numerous tines each game that he has time and has wide open receivers that he either totally ignores or flat out misses? Everyone makes a million excuses for Fields cause he’s young and 1st year in the system.. but then u trash the o-line who is also 3/5 of the whole line just as young, and also 4/5 in first year in this system. Why is… Read more »
But Fields has more average time to throw than any other QB. Uh, right. How do they measure that? Well, they start the stopwatch at the snap and then stop it when he throws or gets sacked. So, he has more time than a lot of others but where is it coming from? Uh, he’s buying time with his legs but there’s still nobody open no matter how much time he buys. Don’t fall for misleading states. Most of this O-line is terrrible in pass protection. He can’t trust it and so he doesn’t stand in there and get clobbered.… Read more »
@tim, Very well stated. Fans tend to have short memories which is why so many act as if last season wasn’t totally FUBAR, and that we are not in a total re-build this year. Current fans expectations are equivalent for a team that is into the 2nd year of their rebuild, not just 4 games in. We are extremely talent poor, but we do have an extremely talented QB that is 4 games into his 2nd season that is running for his life every week. Who can reasonably develop under these atrocious circumstances?