Michael Vick was on an airplane Sunday afternoon when he received a textual content message from a pal and realized he was trending on Twitter.
That’s when Vick found that, together with racing previous Miami Dolphins defenders at Soldier Field, Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields was sprinting previous Vick within the NFL file ebook.
Fields ran for 178 yards within the 35-32 loss to the Dolphins, probably the most in a regular-season sport by a quarterback, eclipsing Vick’s mark of 173 set in Week 13 of the 2002 season in an Atlanta Falcons victory at Minnesota.
The San Francisco 49ers’ Colin Kaepernick rushed for 181 yards in a 2013 playoff sport. The NFL differentiates between regular-season and postseason information.
“It is always bittersweet when those records get broken,” Vick mentioned Monday, “but that’s what it is all about — the next generation doing it just a little bit better.”
Along with passing Vick’s league file, Fields eclipsed the Bears mark for speeding yards by a quarterback in a sport. Bobby Douglass ran for 127 yards within the 1972 season finale at Oakland.
“You always want to hold a record for a while,” mentioned Douglass, who had it for almost a half-century. “I just wish I had a little more opportunity to play in a more wide-open offense. I’m not saying I’d have a lot of 178-yard games, but I could run. It would be fun to play today.”
The NFL adjustments just a little extra every season, and Fields was one among six quarterbacks to steer his group in speeding in Week 9. It’s solely the fifth time that has occurred within the Super Bowl period, in response to SI.com.
Some of the quarterbacks becoming a member of Fields on the checklist are professional twin threats such because the Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen (86 yards), the Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes (63) and the Arizona Cardinals’ Kyler Murray (60). Two had been features of being in dangerous offensive video games: the Green Bay Packers’ Aaron Rodgers (40) and the Indianapolis Colts’ Sam Ehlinger (39).
Quarterback speeding numbers are rising rapidly. Of the highest 20 speeding seasons by a quarterback in NFL historical past — the Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson holds the file with 1,206 yards in 2019 — 14 occurred since 2010. The outliers are three seasons by Vick — who turned the primary quarterback to hurry for 1,000 yards in 2006 with the Falcons — and one every by Douglass (968 in 1972), Randall Cunningham (942 in 1990) and Steve McNair (674 in 1997).
Entering Monday night time, Fields was tenth within the NFL in speeding with 602 yards, on tempo for 1,137. Seven quarterbacks are within the high 42 in speeding: Fields, Jackson, Allen, the New York Giants’ Daniel Jones, Murray, the Philadelphia Eagles’ Jalen Hurts and the Falcons’ Marcus Mariota.
“It’s really cool, man,” Vick mentioned. “We’ve been utilizing our legs for the final 20, 25 years, and that’s quarterbacks coming in all sizes and shapes. Now all of us are embracing it as a technique to present toughness, as a technique to proceed to maneuver the chains and a technique to proceed to assist offenses evolve.
“It’s great to see quarterbacks getting into the mix. Every two or three possessions, you are seeing a designed quarterback run. I never thought the game would be this way. It’s a treat to watch these young guys go out there and do it and have success.”
The surge in quarterback runs is placing stress on defenders, particularly move rushers who need to be cognizant of their rush lanes and gamers on the again half who’re challenged to make open-field tackles towards massive, robust, bodily runners comparable to Fields and Allen.
In the ebb and circulation of technique, the query is what is going to defensive coaches create to fight the continued enlargement of quarterback runs. When a move rush is well-executed, protection is tight throughout the board and the quarterback snakes his means out of the pocket and is gone for a 61-yard landing — as Fields did within the third quarter Sunday — it’s exasperating for defensive minds.
Dolphins defensive finish Bradley Chubb collapsed the pocket, Fields stepped up, pumped and — poof — was gone.
“You’re not seeing as many Tom Brady-type quarterbacks sitting in the pocket,” Douglass mentioned. “You’re seeing an athletic guy sitting in the pocket and then scrambling. So it’s an advantageous thing if you have one of those guys. I think Fields is right up there with the top guys that are going to be able to do that for a long time.”
The league has been trending to smaller, extra athletic linebackers comparable to ex-Bear Roquan Smith to assist defend towards the move. Defensive fronts can’t get a lot smaller and faster with out risking being overrun by conventional operating video games.
“It’s putting a lot of stress on defensive coordinators,” Vick mentioned. “These guys for years were just accustomed to rushing the passer. Now you’ve got to rush the passer and defend a running quarterback. Defenses have to work harder and be more ready. The dynamic of the game is changing.”
Said Douglass: “I’m a type of guys that thinks quarterbacks have to run and use their athleticism, and (Fields) is about pretty much as good as any of them proper now. Similar to Vick possibly. Vick was sort of like me. We may make a whole lot of yards by scrambling and utilizing our potential to run.
“Justin is probably further along in the passing side, which all of us have to be able to throw the football too. He’s further along than certainly I was or even Vick was with the type of offense he ran in college.”
Vick progressed as a passer all through his profession and was possibly at his greatest for the Eagles in 2010, when he threw for 3,018 yards with 21 touchdowns and solely six interceptions in 12 begins.
Fields has been extra environment friendly the final three video games, finishing 47 of 72 passes (65.2%) for 453 yards with six touchdowns and just one interception whereas additionally speeding for 320 yards and three scores. He has topped 200 passing yards in just one sport this season, the Week 5 loss at Minnesota.
Fields has 408 speeding yards since Week 6, and solely three operating backs are forward of him in that span: the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Travis Etienne (465), the Tennessee Titans’ Derrick Henry (462) and the Seattle Seahawks’ Kenneth Walker (424).
The Bears ran for 252 yards towards the Dolphins, the fourth consecutive sport they’ve rushed for at the very least 225. The solely different group to perform that feat within the Super Bowl period is the 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers.
“I have watched Fields play about five or six games,” Vick mentioned. “I see him rising and getting higher every week and enjoying with a whole lot of confidence. I see the fellows rallying round him, they usually don’t all the time get the outcomes they need however that’s definitely a group that has a whole lot of room to develop.
“Justin is only going to get better.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com