Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields danced on the Ford Field 30-yard line in the course of a fourth-quarter drive in opposition to the Detroit Lions, shaking his hips and shifting his arm in an adrenaline-fueled second of pleasure.
That’s how good he was feeling over the primary 56 minutes Sunday throughout his comeback from a four-game harm absence.
Fields had simply run for a 29-yard acquire on third-and-14, a part of his 104-yard dashing day in opposition to the Lions. He led a landing drive on the Bears’ opening possession and threw a powerful 39-yard landing strike to DJ Moore within the third quarter on his option to throwing for 169 yards. That 29-yard run, his longest of the day, helped arrange a Cairo Santos discipline objective that gave the Bears a 12-point lead.
“I was just feeling it,” Fields mentioned. “I have no idea (what the dance was). Just first thing that popped in my mind.”
Then, in a matter of minutes, the Lions canceled the dance celebration.
Instead, what might be remembered most about Fields’ return from a dislocated proper thumb is the Bears’ lack of ability to complete the sport, as they allowed the NFC North-leading Lions to storm again for a 31-26 victory to enhance to 8-2. The 3-8 Bears needed to type by way of how they let what ought to have been a feel-good story — and a promising begin to an important closing seven-game stretch for Fields — slip away.
Bears working again Khalil Herbert mentioned some type of “finish the game” eight instances in a two-minute interview within the postgame locker room.
“We’ve got to find a way to have (Fields’) back and finish,” Herbert mentioned. “That’s the biggest thing. We’ve got to find a way to finish that.”
Much of the Bears’ collapse fell on the protection permitting Lions quarterback Jared Goff to place collectively two landing drives within the closing 4 minutes for the win. But the Bears offense additionally missed a possibility to place the sport away on their second-to-last drive with a five-point lead.
Herbert was stuffed for no acquire working up the center on first down and stopped after simply 1 yard on second down, a read-option play that Fields handed off.
On the subsequent play, Bears rookie Tyler Scott might really feel his likelihood was coming as quickly as he shot off the road of scrimmage and previous cornerback Cam Sutton. On third-and-9 within the closing three minutes, Scott ran the route identical to he had practiced, and he had a few steps on Sutton as Fields let the soccer fly.
“It’s my chance to make an impact on this game, especially during that time,” Scott mentioned. “To put a dagger in the game.”
Fields threw a “great ball,” Scott mentioned. But as Scott dived ahead, the soccer was simply out of his attain. He had misjudged the catch a bit, he mentioned, and the missed alternative pressured the Bears to punt, giving the Lions the ball again with 2 minutes, 44 seconds to play.
“If that thing connects, yeah, I think that seals the deal in my opinion,” mentioned Fields, who referred to as Scott “a young player with a bright future in this league” who “will be good and bounce back from that.”
Over the subsequent two minutes, the Lions put collectively the successful 73-yard scoring drive.
“You know it hurts that you’re not able to execute in those moments like that,” Scott mentioned. “And then it hurts even more to see that we come out with an L.”
The Bears had 29 seconds to tie the sport after the Lions went forward 29-26, however Aidan Hutchinson obtained previous rookie proper sort out Darnell Wright for a strip-sack of Fields. As Wright tried to recuperate the fumble, he kicked the ball out of the again of the tip zone for a security.
“I just have to step up in the pocket and do better,” Fields mentioned. “I know Darnell was beating himself up after the game, and he’s going to learn from that, get better. But to help him out, I’ve got to step into the pocket and just help him out.”
Fields mentioned he thought his thumb “held up pretty good” and mentioned his physique felt as contemporary as if “it was the first game of the season out there.”
He confirmed little rust on the opening 75-yard landing drive, when he threw for 38 yards and ran for 28.
His greatest play of the day was the landing go to Moore for a 20-14 third-quarter lead. Fields moved ahead within the pocket after which launched the go to Moore, who had gotten in entrance of cornerback Jerry Jacobs and caught it in stride. Fields and Moore mentioned Fields overthrew an analogous play earlier within the night time.
“I mean, he just let that first one rip,” Moore mentioned. “I was like, ‘Uh, I’m fast, but’ … let’s take some off of that. And then we connected again on the same type of play.”
There had been different missed alternatives. Along with the three-and-out drive within the fourth, the Bears additionally lamented not scoring on two first-half Bears takeaways, one which ended within the Bears punting and one other that ended with a Scott fumble.
“The way our defense was able to create takeaways was big for us, and as an offense, we’ve got to turn those into touchdowns rather than field goals or no points at all,” Fields mentioned. “We know who we are, we know what kind of team we are, and we’ve just got to be better. We’ve just got to finish. When those big moments happen, when we need those big plays, we’ve got to execute.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com