Earlier this offseason, Justin Fields set a lofty personal goal of becoming the first Bears quarterback in the history of the storied franchise to throw for 4,000 yards in a single season.
In his preseason debut on Saturday against Tennessee, the talented dual-threat completed all three of his pass attempts for an eye-popping 129 yards and two touchdowns.
However, the gaudy average of 43 yards per completion needs to be put in context.
Fields 62-yard touchdown completion to wideout DJ Moore traveled one yard beyond the line of scrimmage. His second long touchdown pass was a simple screen pass, which traveled less than two yards in the air to running back Khalil Herbert, resulting in a 56-yard catch and run down the near sideline.
The Bears are having fun out there today 🔥
— NFL (@NFL) August 12, 2023
📺: #TENvsCHI on @NFLNetwork
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/bBFpXevVUR pic.twitter.com/dxpJK7Jgul
Despite only averaging 2,056 passing yards in his first two seasons, the dual-threat talent believes he will make team history this upcoming season and the stats will give Bears fans and fantasy football managers something to get extremely excited about
Fields, who set the NFL single-game regular season record for quarterback rushing yards with a 178-yard effort against the Dolphins, has proven to be a weapon on the ground.
However, who has averaged just 152.2 passing yards per contest through 27 career NFL games, would need to up his average to 235.3 this year to eclipse the 4,000 yard passing plateau.
Saturday’s impressive yardage production has the emerging signal-caller on a road that would etch his name once again into Chicago’s record books.
Fans on social media had mixed reactions to the performance.
Justin fields got that tua stat line https://t.co/gNmzdC0p8x
— Frank (@frankthetank134) August 12, 2023
Just an absolute laser of a throw by Fields!
— Dylan 🦅 (@BleedGreenHive) August 12, 2023
Future MVP!? 😳 https://t.co/eJ7x0Us64v
It might not look like much but HUGE step for Justin still looking to pass instead of running it himself. So far impressive with how the Bears offense is operating https://t.co/jDVd7nugFQ
— Colin Alger (@colin_alger1) August 12, 2023
Fields might have the most misleading stat line of all time today lmao https://t.co/K2UEwP1o5g
— Riley (@SlovisForSix) August 12, 2023
