Forty minutes after the Chicago Bears’ 20-point loss Sunday afternoon, quarterback Justin Fields got here to his postgame information convention at AT&T Stadium expressing optimism.
“I think we’re growing, getting better each and every week as an offense,” Fields mentioned. “I’m just proud of the guys and the way they fought. We were down early but they didn’t waiver. We kept the same mentality and just chipped away. I thought, as a whole, we played well.”
Fields wasn’t fallacious. He performed properly Sunday, albeit in a 49-29 beatdown by the Dallas Cowboys. The Bears offense had a strong afternoon, too.
Fields was right in declaring that the Bears’ 29 factors had been probably the most scored towards the Cowboys this season. Their 371 whole yards had been additionally probably the most given up by Dallas over the primary eight weeks.
Fields threw for 2 touchdowns and ran for an additional, the primary time in his profession he has accounted for 3 TDs in the identical sport. His 73.9 completion share was the best in his 18 profession begins. His 120.0 passer ranking was a profession finest and simply the second time he’s gone over 100.
“I’m getting more comfortable with the offense,” Fields mentioned. “I think our guys are too as a whole. I think we’re growing.”
For the third consecutive week, the Bears rushed for greater than 200 yards and padded their league-best common to 188.4 speeding yards per sport. For coach Matt Eberflus, the emergence of a top-tier working assault has been satisfying.
“It’s really just all 11 guys really committed to that style,” he mentioned. “I really believe that’s the Chicago Bear way.”
In a season through which playoff aspirations had been all the time thought-about a longshot, the Bears should proceed embracing a progress mindset, highlighting progress even when the sting of shedding stays sharp.
That, for all intents and functions, is why Sunday’s defeat — the Bears’ fifth within the final seven video games — didn’t really feel overwhelmingly demoralizing or jarring.
After all, the Bears began October in an offensive funk. Over the primary three video games of the month, they managed simply three touchdowns, averaged 13.7 factors in a string of three losses and solely scored on 10 of 30 possessions.
Yet over seven days on the finish of the month — and towards a pair of high quality defenses within the New England Patriots and the Cowboys — the Bears racked up 761 whole yards, scored 62 factors and put factors up on 12 of twenty-two possessions with seven touchdowns.
Said working again Khalil Herbert: “It’s guys buying into the detail, making this offense come alive.”
With an inconsistent protection that now not has both Roquan Smith or Robert Quinn, the Bears offense should carry a heavier load. And it is going to be on Fields to spearhead that effort.
Here’s your Week 8 QB Rewind.
Defining second
In the ultimate minute of the primary half, Fields accomplished a 75-yard scoring march with a 17-yard TD dart to N’Keal Harry, a play that was spectacular in its fluidity. With the Cowboys displaying a cover-zero shell earlier than the snap, Fields made an alert safety test, trusted his line and working again David Montgomery to guard him towards a seven-man rush, then hit the highest of his five-stop drop with good rhythm and clear footwork.
Harry, understanding of the left slot towards cornerback Kelvin Joseph, ran a crisp route towards cornerback Kelvin Joseph and gained inside leverage. The timing of the play was in sync.
Throw, catch, finish zone occasion.
“N’Keal ran a great route,” Fields mentioned. “And I just put it on him”
Added Eberflus: “The pocket was really nice and he hit him.”
It must be famous that the Bears caught the Cowboys with solely 10 defenders on the sphere for that play. Still, that throw capped a 12-play TD drive that reduce into the Cowboys’ 28-7 lead and put the Bears again into the sport earlier than halftime. The Bears added a area objective simply 40 seconds later, then completed their run of 16 unanswered factors with a 62-yard third-quarter TD drive that pulled them inside 28-23.
All of that was a present of resolve and moxie from the offense, a capability to rally even when confronted with an enormous early deficit. The potential of Fields and the offense to retain their aggressive edge is notable. That sort of constant hearth shall be wanted to maintain the Bears feisty down the stretch of a season through which they are going to be underdogs in nearly each sport.
Finding solutions Sunday — just like the TD cross to Harry — supplied promise.
Uh oh
Fields’ prettiest cross got here within the second quarter, a deep shot to rookie receiver Velus Jones Jr., who ran a go route towards Cowboys cornerback Anthony Brown. The Bears had been trailing 28-7 on the time and in large time want of a spark. When Jones slipped behind Brown, Fields had precisely what he wished.
Fields’ deep ball traveled 54 yards within the air and dropped proper into Jones’ arms. But as Jones dived and hit the bottom, the ball squirted out.
“That ball,” Eberflus mentioned, “was on the money.”
Instead of a 48-yard achieve and a primary down on the Cowboys 5, the Bears needed to reset.
They did so efficiently and nonetheless completed that possession with a landing. But that was the most recent instance of a chance that was missed as a result of the Bears don’t have sufficient playmakers.
Would it have been a very nice catch by Jones? Yes. Should it’s thought-about a drop? Absolutely.
That shot was one in all a handful very best deep-ball alternatives the Bears couldn’t fairly join on. The first got here on their first snap when Equanimeous St. Brown acquired behind Brown deep up the precise aspect. Fields, although, was a beat late in launching and underthrew St. Brown, who needed to decelerate and did not corral the cross as Brown closed floor and made a play on the ball.
Eberflus held Fields accountable for the miss, estimating that St. Brown had as much as 4 yards of separation at one level.
“We’ve got to let that air out,” he mentioned. “J. knows that. Just a little underthrown on that one. … You’ve got to air it out and let him run under it.”
According to Next Gen Stats, Fields was 3-for-8 for 70 yards and a landing on passes thrown greater than 15 yards past the road of scrimmage Sunday. That didn’t embody a second-quarter interception on a cross he sailed over Dante Pettis whereas being hit. Fortunately for the Bears, that giveaway was negated when Cowboys defensive finish Chauncey Golston was flagged for a questionable roughing the passer penalty.
Two of Fields’ different downfield misses got here on finish zone pictures within the last minute of the primary half, one a nook path to Dante Pettis that was damaged up by cornerback Daron Bland and the opposite a free-play, bounce ball to St. Brown that didn’t join.
“That was a wonderful throw,” Eberflus mentioned. “I’ve been saying it all along. (Justin) is a wonderful deep ball thrower. He can put it on a dime, drop it in the bucket, whatever metaphor you want to use. He certainty had a couple of good ones.”
Fields is aware of a part of the hunt this season shall be determining a approach to have extra common success with the vertical passing assault.
“If you want to have success in the NFL you’re always going to have to be able to stretch the defense vertically,” he mentioned. “You have to take those shots downfield so they’re not all up in your grill.”
On the intense aspect
Fields’ reference to third-year receiver Darnell Mooney continues to develop, with the pair combining for 5 completions and 70 yards Sunday. Mooney’s longest seize went for 36 after he froze All-Pro cornerback Trevon Diggs with a post-corner route within the third quarter, creating a zipper code’s price of separation and giving Fields an enormous window to throw into.
It was a blinding route making life simple on the quarterback.
Mooney’s manufacturing uptick has been encouraging. In the Bears’ first 4 video games, he totaled eight receptions for 121 yards. Over the final 4, he has had 17 grabs and 243 yards.
Mooney remains to be searching for his first landing and first 100-yard sport of the season. But that must be coming, maybe as early as Sunday when the Bears host the Miami Dolphins.
The Dolphins rank within the backside 10 of the league in passing protection, permitting 262.1 yards per sport. They have given up 12 landing passes and have allowed 5 opposing gamers (together with three receivers) to prime 100 receiving yards.
Odds and ends
- It’s nonetheless arduous to fathom what the Bears had been doing with their last offensive snap of Sunday’s first half, calling a shovel cross to Montgomery on third-and-4 from the Cowboys 18 with 11 seconds to play. After the sport, Fields mentioned he thought it was a very good play name. Added Eberflus: “We like that play. We knew they were going to be softer there. And we wanted to work on that shovel. That was going to be a good play for us. It just broke down for whatever reason.” The simple interpretation is the Bears had been content material to accept a area objective to complete a spirited rally on the finish of the primary half and due to this fact took probably the most conservative path attainable to establishing Cairo Santos for what turned a 36-yard kick. (Montgomery was stopped for no achieve on the shovel cross.) But in a season through which Fields wants to achieve expertise and present playmaking in large moments, the Bears need to have one thing contained in the playbook that might have allowed their younger quarterback to take a calculated shot into the top zone — or at the very least past the road of scrimmage — with no excessive danger of a turnover.
- One of the Bears’ sloppier sequences — a botched trick play within the second quarter — was truly set as much as be a landing or an enormous achieve had it been executed higher. The play began with a fast ahead cross to Pettis alongside the left aspect with a design for a lateral all the best way again throughout the sphere to the place Montgomery was ready with what ought to have been three blockers (Sam Mustipher, Riley Reiff and Teven Jenkins) to filter out one Cowboys defender. But it appeared Montgomery was a bit sloppy along with his spacing and Pettis was inaccurate along with his throw again throughout the sphere and the play didn’t join. Officials penalized Pettis for an unlawful ahead cross on what seemed to be a authorized lateral. Either approach, that’s a play the Bears had been kicking themselves for not capitalizing on. The window of alternative was there and the Bears slammed it shut on their very own fingers.
- The Bears offense dedicated six penalties for 45 yards Sunday. Immediately earlier than Montgomery’s expensive fumble and Fields’ psychological error in not touching Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons down, the Bears incurred a false begin on tight finish Trevon Wesco after there was mass confusion in getting correctly aligned. That was much less an error on Wesco and extra a collective communication breakdown with a number of gamers trying confused. On the primary play of the subsequent collection, Cole Kmet was known as for holding on what would have been a 36-yard zone-read keeper run by Fields.
- The Bears should break their behavior of falling behind early quickly. Over the primary eight video games, their opponents have scored first 5 occasions and have held the lead at halftime in seven contests. Overall, the typical halftime rating has been opponents 16, Bears 10.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com