On a snowy Sunday in Chicago, fans chanted for the Bears to keep quarterback Justin Fields, which is the type of thing fans do when enthusiasm, beer and a dreadful opponent are coursing through their veins.
But if general manager Ryan Poles allows himself to be heavily influenced by those chants or by Fields’ performance Sunday, he, too, should be given a Soldier Field sobriety test.
Fields was excellent in a 37-17 victory against the Falcons, throwing for 268 yards and passing and rushing for a touchdown. The key word in that last sentence was ‘‘Falcons.’’ They were so bad on both sides of the ball that you wondered whether black ties and talent were optional on their invites to the event.
Unless your head resides permanently in the sand, you know Poles has a decision to make in the offseason. The Bears clinched the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft Sunday when the Panthers lost to the Jaguars and the Cardinals beat the Eagles. Poles can use it on one of the top two college quarterbacks — USC’s Caleb Williams or North Carolina’s Drake Maye — or he can hold on to Fields and use his high draft picks to build around him.
One good game against a bad team shouldn’t matter as much as politicking fans think it should. Thirty-seven starts in three seasons should.
I fall on the side of moving on from Fields, but I will say I’ve never seen a more polarizing debate over a quarterback than this one. It’s like one of those drawings in which one person sees a rabbit and another sees a duck. Both think the other is crazy. Both might be right about that.
The people who look at Fields and see a great quarterback are the loudest, though with considerably less proof.
One of the keep-Fields arguments often proffered is that it would be a mistake to begin again with another young quarterback, to restart the clock, to throw away the previous three years of development. But when a Super Bowl title is the only thing that matters, that argument collapses in on itself. If Poles doesn’t think Fields is a great quarterback who can lead the Bears to a title, then he has to move on. He’s not in it for fans to be entertained by Fields’ running ability. Presumably, he’s in it to win it.
If Poles thinks Williams or Maye is a championship quarterback, then he has to act on that. Great quarterbacks are rare.
If Poles thinks Fields can be great, then he needs to act on that, too. I’d argue that three years of game tape have shown what Fields is — and it’s not what the Bears should be looking for if they’re chasing a title.
Another keep-Fields argument states that the Bears have a great defense and thus don’t need an exceptional quarterback. That’s incredibly presumptuous. The Bears have a good defense that has the potential to be dominant. But you don’t skimp on a quarterback because of the potential on the other side of the ball. Especially in Chicago, which regularly overvalues its teams and players.
CBS’ announcers said Sunday that if the Bears don’t want Fields, another team surely will. That probably sent a shiver through Bears fans, but fear isn’t a reason to keep the kid, either.
In isolation, without regard for whom the Bears were playing, Fields’ performance was achingly beautiful, one that spoke of what might have been or what can be, depending on your perspective. He got out of jams no one without a cape should be able to. He threw mostly with precision, something that hasn’t always been the case during his time in Chicago.
Was it real?
The answer is that somebody forgot to tell the Falcons it’s a good idea to put a defender on Bears receiver DJ Moore. Moore was open so many times that he’s being treated for loneliness. He finished with nine catches for 159 yards and a touchdown. The Falcons also chose not to put a pass rush on Fields. It was mind-numbingly dumb.
Was this game a reflection of how far Fields has come or a reflection of the Falcons’ defense? With a new year upon us, let’s be kind and say there was some of both.
Fields said he loved everything about this game, especially the chants of fans who want him playing for the Bears next season.
‘‘I heard it,’’ he said. ‘‘It was great.’’’
If this was his last appearance at Soldier Field as a Bear, it was a nice way to go out — with a fine performance against an amenable opponent.
