The Chicago Bears are one of six teams to have a Week 14 bye, so the next time we’ll see them will be next Sunday when they host the Philadelphia Eagles.
In the meantime, though, Week 13 marked Justin Field’s return to the field after a brief hiatus with an injury to his non-throwing shoulder. Chicago’s signal-caller continues to be a game changer, but his late-game mistakes are becoming more consistent and hurting the team.
Let’s take a look at some of the best, and worst, from Fields from Week 13.
Play 1
Fields gets good protection here, and throws an incredibly well-placed ball. The Packers fall back into a zone with two deep safeties. Equanimeous St. Brown looks as if he’s running a crosser, but plants his foot and breaks for the sideline on a corner route. Fields sneaks the ball over the hand of the intermediate defender and gets it to St. Brown before the safety can make a play from the back end.
Play 2
These inside quarterback keepers are so effective, and great to use in this part of the field. Good run blocking frees up running room for Fields, and takes the Bears from what would be very long field goal range into a manageable spot for a kick on the nine yard run.
Play 3
This is just absurd. A lot of stuff on display that can’t be taught, it’s just pure ability and high football IQ put on display. Fields keeps the ball on the option, immediately makes a defender miss in the backfield, and cuts back inside. From there, he finds a gap and splits the defense en route to another long touchdown run. Fields is quickly becoming one of the game’s best at altering the course of a game in a single play.
Play 4
This is a good throw by Fields on a comeback route. However, look at the middle of the field. He has a man with no one around him. If Fields hits him, it goes for a bigger gain, and potentially six. This felt like a case of Fields pre-determining where he was going with the ball.
Play 5
Fields has grown as a pocket passer, as well as a patient passer. Here, he steps up and can easily just scramble for a few yards. Instead, he stops shy of the line of scrimmage (seemingly learning from his mistake from Week 2) and delivers a well-thrown ball down the sideline for a good gain into Packer territory.
Play 6
More great pocket presence from Fields, which might be the aspect of his game that has grown the most over his brief professional career. He makes his drop, steps up when pressure comes on the right side, but he doesn’t get happy feet. He stays composed, and keeps his eyes downfield. Only when nothing is there does he begin to roll out, but he stays behind the line of scrimmage to allow the play to develop, and what happens? He makes a great throw over the middle while running to his right to get the ball to the 10 yard-line.
Play 7
This was the throw of the day, and one of the best throws of the year from Fields. It’s a double move, and Jaire Alexander bites on the pump fake hard. N’Keal Harry then takes off on the go route, and Fields hits him for a huge gain to get the Bears inside the red zone. Pressure caused Fields to do a quick spin in the pocket, which delayed the throw. If he has an extra half second to let Harry get by Alexander, he may hit him in stride for a long touchdown.
Play 8
This interception ended up ending the Bears hopes of winning. It looks like another case of Fields staring down where he is going with the ball and pre-determining his decision. Look at Jaire Alexander and the hop he gets on the release. He’s one of the best cornerbacks in football who will read that type of throw from a mile away if you stare it down. Fields has a man open in the far-side flat that he could have hit for a respectable gain and kept the Bears moving. This throw was an unnecessary risk, going between two shallow defenders and trying to fit the ball into tight coverage.
The Bottom Line
Fields continues being the reason the Bears are in games to begin with, but these late-game turnovers are crushing. If he can limit the mistakes, and carry that over into next season, that will be a big plus for a team who seems to have found their guy under center.
