Trash.
That’s the phrase Justin Fields selected throughout a self-assessment of his efficiency Sunday. He needed to be even harsher.
“Straight up I just played like — I want to say the A-word but I’m not going to (say) that,” Fields mentioned. “I just played like trash. I played terrible.”
Immediately requested for specifics of the place he faltered, Fields shook his head.
“A lot of things,” he mentioned. “A lot of things. A lot of things. So, yeah.”
The Chicago Bears gained Sunday, sneaking previous the Houston Texans 23-20 because of a late Roquan Smith interception and a walk-off discipline aim by Cairo Santos. But for these centered totally on Fields’ improvement because the truest indicator of the crew’s 2022 progress, Sunday created vital nervousness.
Fields seemed unsettled and out of sync for many of the afternoon. Absolutely nothing got here simple. The passing sport was once more damaged.
The Bears wanted well timed playmaking from the protection and their finest speeding outing because the first time period of the Reagan administration to edge one of many worst groups within the NFL on the ultimate play of the day.
For Fields, it felt like one of many shoddiest begins of his profession and possibly even certified as a step backward. He went with out a landing move and threw two ugly interceptions. He was sacked 5 instances and had solely eight completions.
On 11 of 12 possessions, the Bears failed to finish a number of passes. Fields’ 27.7 passer score was his fifth in 13 profession begins beneath 75.
His frustration remained apparent after the sport, notably with the interceptions.
“That’s one of our keys to victory on offense — 100% ball security,” Fields mentioned.
Another key to victory might be to ascertain a passing assault that’s a constant risk to defenses. Through three video games, that hasn’t been the case.
Here’s your complete Week 3 QB rewind.
Defining second
The first of Fields’ two interceptions was ugly, a shot over the center to tight finish Cole Kmet that sailed on to Texans security Jalen Pitre.
“I just missed it,” Fields mentioned. “Cole was wide open. Missed it.”
That was a first-read throw to an open receiver from a clear pocket and nonetheless become a turnover. The unforced inaccuracy was startling. That type of misfire is fully inexcusable.
If the Bears coaches already felt hesitant to offer Fields extra freedom and alternative, that first-half decide appeared to spook them a bit — not less than quickly.
Fields didn’t throw one other move 5 yards past the road of scrimmage for the following 14 snaps.
On third-and-6 from deep of their territory within the second quarter, offensive coordinator Luke Getsy dialed up a run up the center by rookie Trestan Ebner. That play gained 2 yards and the Bears punted.
On 14 third downs within the sport, the Bears handed solely 4 instances. Fields additionally was sacked twice on third down and scrambled on passing performs two different instances.
Fortunately for the Bears, their operating sport is de facto buzzing. Sunday’s 281-yard effort, which featured 7 yards per rush, offered a trusty flotation gadget. But at no level did the passing assault discover a rhythm. The quest for even a small groove in that space rolls into October.
On the brilliant facet
Fields was requested within the postgame information convention if there was something from his efficiency he might cling to and draw encouragement from. Even probably the most optimistic followers and analysts had been struggling to reply that one.
“Just the way I fought,” Fields mentioned. “Of course there were some bad plays. There were definitely more bad plays than good plays, from my standpoint at least. But, yeah, the only positive I can take for me is that we got the win. Again, I’m going to continue to get better.”
Winning is all the time good. A useful deodorant, as former Bears coach Matt Nagy used to say. And it’s a tribute to the full crew effort that the Bears had sufficient to grind out a win with their quarterback struggling as a lot as Fields did.
Fields revealed final week that he altered his preparation routine, waking up earlier than 6 a.m. all through Week 3 to get in as a lot movie examine as attainable. The speedy payoff for these additional hours wasn’t there Sunday.
Even worse, the Bears’ sloppiness was evident from the primary play, a mishandled center-quarterback change between Sam Mustipher and Fields.
The Bears squeezed a 47-yard Santos discipline aim out of their opening possession, thanks principally to the longest run of Fields’ profession, a 29-yard scramble that carried the Bears from their 36 to the Texans 35. But a lot of that drive was rickety. After the fumble on the opening play, Fields’ first completion to a wide-open Byron Pringle got here on a move that was startlingly inaccurate.
A fast-hitter on the following snap to Darnell Mooney was batted down behind the road of scrimmage by cornerback Desmond King.
Late within the collection, Fields stumbled when his toes tangled with David Montgomery’s throughout his drop-back. That play ended with a nasty misfire to an open Equanimeous St. Brown.
That foreshadowed many of the afternoon because it associated to Fields’ play. At some level quickly, the correction course of after these video games has to change into a lot much less demanding.
Wait, isn’t this section labeled “On the bright side”?
Uh-oh
Even the simple performs aren’t simple proper now for Fields and the Bears.
That quick-game first-down display to Mooney within the slot to the left? Batted down.
A brief swing move to Ebner in the correct flat? Way exterior. Wild pitch. Incomplete.
Another primary pitch-and-catch to Mooney late within the first half? Dropped. Second-and-long.
Yikes.
If the early interception meant for Kmet was Fields’ worst second, a runner-up candidate was his third-quarter throw to tight finish Jake Tonges on a play-action rollout to the correct. Tonges wasn’t the primary learn, however he was open 13 yards past the road of scrimmage. Fields threw manner behind him.
On the primary play of the fourth quarter, Fields threw his second interception on a deep ball over the center to Mooney. Fields acknowledged Cover-2 earlier than the snap and had Mooney matched up with center linebacker Christian Kirksey. It was a dream setup for a giant play.
But stress got here up the center with defensive deal with Maliek Collins knifing between Larry Borom and Lucas Patrick to muddle the pocket. Fields, who might need had a possibility to let it fly a half-tick earlier, was hit as he threw.
“The ball just sailed too high,” he mentioned.
Pitre simply had his second decide of the sport.
“Next time on that play, take a check-down,” Fields mentioned. “That’s one thing I’m going to work on this week. If I’m getting pressure, boom, take a check-down.”
Eberflus was temporary along with his evaluation of that turnover a day later.
“He just has to handle the ball better,” he mentioned. “He can’t put the ball in harm’s way. He knows that. On that particular play, he did.”
It’s a little bit of a Bermuda Triangle for the Bears passing assault in the meanwhile. The offensive line isn’t defending all that effectively; the Bears allowed 5 sacks Sunday. The receiving corps has been extremely underwhelming. The quarterback hasn’t performed effectively. At all.
To that center level, Pringle left the sport with a proper leg damage, formally introduced as a calf challenge. He departed Soldier Field in a strolling boot.
Rookie Velus Jones Jr. has missed the primary three video games with a nagging hamstring challenge that restricted him by means of a lot of coaching camp. Dante Pettis made a game-changing 51-yard landing reception on a damaged play in Week 1 however hasn’t caught a move since. Mooney has all of 4 catches on 11 targets for 27 yards.
A rising faction of Bears followers is feeling uneasy that the teaching employees isn’t exhibiting belief in Fields and the passing sport. But thus far, what’s there to belief?
Odds and ends
- Eberflus could have had his first vital game-management blunder late within the first half. Trailing 14-13, the Bears took possession at their 10-yard line with 1 minute, 4 seconds remaining and all three timeouts left. A 9-yard run by Khalil Herbert on the fourth play of that collection moved the chains and pushed the ball out to the 28 with 40 seconds remaining. But reasonably than utilizing a timeout to reset and make a daring push at scoring earlier than halftime, the Bears let 27 seconds run off the clock, had been gradual getting a play in and ran after which, with lower than 15 seconds to play, Fields was sacked. The time ran out. Boos rained down from the Soldier Field seats. Fans stared with palms up and bemused expressions questioning what on the planet the philosophy was. After the sport, Eberflus defined that the Bears had been in a one-back, three-tight-end personnel grouping on the Herbert run and that after a Texans substitution, he wanted to do a greater job of getting again right into a grouping with one again and one tight finish. “I should have called timeout at 35 seconds and we would have been fine,” Eberflus mentioned. “I have to be better in that situation right there.”
- The Bears’ longest achieve of the season got here on their first play of the second half, a formidable 52-yard run by Herbert by means of a gap the scale of the Eisenhower Expressway. Fullback Khari Blasingame cleared Pitre out of the opening. Cody Whitehair and Teven Jenkins received to the second stage for space-clearing blocks. All Herbert needed to do was make one decisive cutback inside and dodge a deal with try from Jonathan Owens. It was all open discipline from there. Said Kmet: “We wanted to get back to our wide zone scheme there to start the half. And that presented really well and Khalil hit the hole hard. … Definitely got us going there.” Fields hit a straightforward 20-yard completion to Equanimeous St. Brown on the following play, and Herbert took over from there, finally scoring on a 1-yard run to offer the Bears a 20-17 lead.
- Fields’ 29-yard run, one in every of six tuck-and-run scrambles, was a showcase of his elusiveness and velocity, a nifty escape from the Texans move rush. But even that chunk play deserved scrutiny. Fields had all day to throw and loads of room throughout the pocket. From overhead, it appeared he had Pettis open down the sphere to his proper. St. Brown, in the meantime, might have been focused on a nook path to the identical facet. Fields didn’t pull the set off and took off. The potential to make a play along with his legs was notable and a giant contribution to a scoring drive. But because the Bears push their younger quarterback to change into a persistently productive pocket passer, they may level to moments like that as cases the place he needs to be higher, even on performs that finish with a profitable end result.
- The Bears have been dominant within the operating sport by means of three video games with an NFC-high 560 yards and 5.4 yards per rush, which ranks fourth within the league. The consistency has sparked confidence up entrance. And it was rewarding for the offensive line to return to the locker room after the sport with a 281-yard speeding outing. “I don’t know if I’ve been part of an offense that’s rushed for that much my entire career,” guard Lucas Patrick mentioned. “I felt like we were taking the line of scrimmage, putting a hat on a hat and just letting our runners be special.”
()
Source: www.bostonherald.com