If anybody tells you Justin Fields had a bad game against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, you’ll know they didn’t watch it. They will see his two interceptions in the box score and make assumptions. In reality, the Chicago Bears quarterback had one of his best performances of the season. Until now, the core of his success in 2022 has come on the ground. That didn’t change against the Packers, as he had 71 yards rushing, capped by an electric 56-yard touchdown sprint. Yet that wasn’t the most significant development of the afternoon.
Keep this in mind. Green Bay had the 4th-ranked pass defense in the NFL going into the game. They held Fields to 70 yards passing in the first meeting three months ago at Lambeau Field. It became apparent right away they weren’t facing the same quarterback. Fields was excellent most of the afternoon, going 20-of-25 for a season-high 254 yards. Don’t forget he did this without Darnell Mooney, who is done for the year with an ankle injury, and Chase Claypool getting hobbled by a knee injury in the first half. He did most of the damage with Equanimeous St. Brown and N’Keal Harry.
Justin Fields is evolving despite less-than-ideal circumstances.
His receiving corps is a hodgepodge of journeymen and walking wounded. His offensive line has suffered from consistency issues. Yet when his protection held up, he carved the Packers apart. It is exciting to wonder what might happen when the Bears start surrounding him with more legitimate playmakers. Nitpick the interceptions and the late-game struggles all you want. Chicago has a viable quarterback for the first time in ages. He has proven multiple times he can carry this team to competitive games.
Anybody else in his situation would’ve crashed and burned by now. His blend of freakish athleticism and gritty mentality has helped him slowly morph into a complete quarterback. There is still work to do. His execution in the 4th quarter must be better. Then again, everybody on the offense can say that. He’ll get some much-needed time off during the bye week to heal. Then the final stretch will involve several future playoff teams. It should be a great chance for him to gain experience against the best the NFL has to offer.
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You do realize that almost all quarterbacks have a losing record when trailing in the fourth quarter? Not a pass for Fields but you might want to curb your thoughts regarding him coming down the field consistently in the fourth. There’s a reason the Packers are fourth in the league against the pass!
I don’t care how well he performs or how well the team did another loss Green Bay it’s absolutely no fun to watch this any longer. I see no bright side.
That 6-11 team was also old and expensive. And yes this another rebuild but it’s the first where the plan is to get younger. You can’t expect to win consistently with most of the talent on your roster is from Free Agency! And Fields isn’t lousy. How can anyone say the QB isn’t good when the WR admitted to running incorrect routes, the offensive line can’t “consistently” pass block, spotty play calling, inconsistent special teams, and horrendous defense etc. With all of the needs of this team, the pressure of this unrealistic fan base, how can we justify blaming the… Read more »
Yes. ESB did a great job running his route and coming back to the ball on Fields pick. Trubisky had Allen Robinson and a great defense. So how is Justin not keeping these games competitive basically by himself? And. I haven’t mentioned the HOF, yet
This Justin Fields is doing all these good things “on his own” narrative is absurd. Fields has better receivers than Trubisky ever had. And most of his OL has the same amount of NFL experience as Justin does. They’re all gaining valuable experience working together, and improving.
But until.Justin can close out a game with less than two minutes to go, let’s hold off on the Gold HOF jacket.