Justin Fields didn’t have a good overall game in Week 1. One pass was intercepted, and another should’ve been. He went 3-of-10 for 19 yards in the first half. It wasn’t pretty. However, there is a reason the game is four quarters. The Chicago Bears quarterback never let himself get down. He kept plugging away, and that resilience paid off when he fired two touchdown passes on successive drives to engineer a stunning upset of the San Francisco 49ers.
There were always going to be growing pains for Fields. It’s a brand new offense. His supporting cast isn’t great. Playing the position like a top 10 guy was never realistic this early in the season. He needed to make some things happen outside the structure while the learning process continued. His second half performance caught the eye of several people. His new wide receiver Byron Pringle was one, stating that Fields’ composure in difficult conditions reminded him of a certain MVP favorite down in Kansas City.
High praise indeed.
That by itself would’ve been interesting, but Pringle wasn’t the only wide receiver pulling the Patrick Mahomes card after Sunday. Former Pro Bowler Keyshawn Johnson discussed the game with co-hosts Jay Williams and Max Kellerman on KJM. When the subject of Fields came up, Johnson couldn’t help but smile when thinking about some of the magic he pulled off.
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Justin Fields has a long way to go before reaching Mahomes level.
The Kansas City Chiefs superstar is on his own planet right now. He is the best quarterback in football. Fields isn’t there yet. That isn’t his fault. Mahomes inherited a great situation with All-Pro talent around him and one of the best offensive minds of this generation as his head coach. The Bears are working to fix the mess the previous regime left behind. It appears progress was made. New offensive coordinator Luke Getsy did an excellent job adjusting to his strengths as a quarterback. The offensive line was steadier.
It isn’t crazy to think the receiving corps will perform better in the coming weeks when they don’t have to play in a torrential downpour. Justin Fields should continue to improve. If he could play like that in those conditions against a top 10 defense, then it’s unlikely other teams on the schedule will have much more success. Don’t be surprised if he starts to put up some Mahomes-like numbers from time to time later this year.
When did Mahomes go more than half a game without completing a pass to a WR? Anyone who compares Fields to Mahomes needs his head examined. Vine Young is a better comparison.
Just a wake-up call from Getsy, Fields, and Co. that they are for real and coming to kick a** and take names later.
Not to mention the Bears scored as many or more points than 9 other teams this week. Many of them being in a dome.
Get this oline to settle down from the first series onward. 29+ a game is realistic 🐻⬇️