It didn’t take lengthy for Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields to seek out his first completion Sunday in opposition to the Denver Broncos. First snap, out of a diamond formation. Play motion, tight finish to the flat. Easy pitch and catch. Nine-yard acquire to Robert Tonyan.
That’s how the Bears at all times need to begin. Straightforward idea. Crisp execution. Positive momentum. Stack the completions from there.
Two in a row for Fields. Three in a row. Four.
Five in a row, six.
Fields’ seventh consecutive completion got here on the primary play of the second quarter, a deep shot to his favourite receiver. Against a single-high security look, DJ Moore gained exterior leverage in opposition to cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian down the appropriate sideline. And when Fields’ go dropped towards Soldier Field’s north finish zone, Moore made a highlight-reel seize, someway managing to get each ft down inbounds.
Touchdown.
Ideal. Keep that flowing. Stay within the rhythm.
Eight completions in a row. Then 9 — one other TD go, this time to tight finish Cole Kmet for 22 yards in an enormous house within the Broncos zone.
This, apparently, is what the Bears offense had been looking by means of September to no avail. Big performs. Timing. Command. Accuracy.
“I felt like there was more of an identity to the offense,” Kmet stated. “You could feel that out there.”
Fields rolled up 10 consecutive completions, then 11, then 12 — a 3rd first-half TD go, once more to Kmet from 3 yards away.
Then got here 13 in a row. And 14, 15 and 16, a franchise file within the closing minute of the primary half.
By the top of three quarters, Fields had misfired solely as soon as in 24 makes an attempt — and that got here on a Hail Mary to finish the primary half.
Heading into the fourth, Fields had 285 passing yards with vitality pulsing by means of the offense.
Yes, the Bears frittered away a 28-7 lead in a fully gut-wrenching 31-28 loss at Soldier Field. And, sure, Fields’ two fourth-quarter turnovers — a fumble returned for a landing and an interception on his closing go within the closing minute — had been an enormous a part of that story.
But for the primary time in endlessly, the passing offense appeared alive and the Bears’ total productiveness felt encouraging.
“I do think we took a step closer in finding our identity as an offense,” Fields stated Tuesday.
Fields completed with a career-high 335 passing yards on a career-high 28 completions with a career-high 4 TD throws.
Does it matter that it got here in opposition to the disjointed Broncos, who’ve allowed a league-worst 461.5 yards per recreation this season?
“Everybody in this league is really, really good,” offensive coordinator Luke Getsy stated. “I wouldn’t take that for anything as far as who we are playing against. And every challenge is different as well.”
The Bears racked up 471 complete yards in opposition to the Broncos, their sixth-highest output of the final 10 seasons and their greatest since September 2018, when Matt Nagy was establishing himself as a Coach of the Year front-runner and Mitch Trubisky was a inexperienced quarterback brimming with promise.
In addition to Fields’ 300-yard output, Moore turned eight catches into 131 yards and operating again Khalil Herbert churned out 103 yards on the bottom. It was the primary time since December 2016 that the Bears had a 300-yard passer, 100-yard receiver and 100-yard rusher in the identical recreation.
Now come the vital questions: What, from inside that offensive outburst, carries ahead? How a lot can translate in a brand new week in opposition to a greater protection? Will the renewed confidence from Sunday’s efficiency propel the Bears on Thursday evening in opposition to the Washington Commanders at Fed Ex Field?
“It’s part of the next step,” Getsy stated. “We have to make sure we can consistently execute. … (Against the Broncos) the execution part of it, the communication part, was all pretty crisp. And therefore it gave Justin an opportunity to play at a high level.”
Thursday’s problem gained’t be simple, significantly in a brief week. The Commanders protection, overseen by coach Ron Rivera and coordinator Jack Del Rio, has rather more tooth than the unit the Broncos dropped at Soldier Field, significantly up entrance with tackles Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne denting the pocket and Chase Young and Montez Sweat coming off the sting.
Getsy labeled the Commanders protection as “loaded” with “as good of a front five as there is in this league.”
“It’s a challenge,” he added. “We have to do a really good job to try to be creative and get every aspect of our game going.”
To have any probability at snapping their 14-game skid, the Bears should defend nicely up entrance, scale back penalties and maintain the soccer. But inside Sunday’s offensive outburst — which included six completions for not less than 20 yards — the Bears persistently discovered solutions and made performs.
In the second quarter alone, they scored 21 factors whereas going through just one third down.
“(We were) just playing fast and confident and not trying to outthink people or be (overly) creative,” Tonyan stated. “Just go out there and play.”
Fields’ first TD go to Kmet featured a well-timed name in opposition to the best zone protection.
“Favorite play in football: all-go,” Kmet stated. “They gave us the look we wanted. All I had to do was buzz that linebacker and put him in conflict with our running back. Justin saw it right away and hit the seam. I knew off the snap it was going to be a touchdown.”
Fields’ two shorter landing throws — the 3-yarder to Kmet and a 2-yard dart to Herbert within the third quarter — had been extra spectacular.
On the previous, the Bears quarterback rolled proper on a play-action bootleg with a super mix of objective and endurance. The manner exterior linebacker Nik Bonitto and security Kareem Jackson defended the play took away Kmet’s path to the flat. Fields resisted the urge to tuck and run for the top zone. Instead he manipulated linebacker Alex Singleton together with his eyes and pacing, then used point-guard imaginative and prescient to drop a dime to Kmet.
“I just tried to stretch the play out as long as possible,” Fields stated.
Added Kmet: “He just gave it time for the linebacker to fly through and then dumped it off. It was a good play by Justin to have that vision and that patience to let me find the void there.”
On the landing to Herbert, Field reacted to the “dirty edge” he had on his play-action bare bootleg left. He stopped, dodged and veered round Bonitto. And together with his eyes up and arm prepared, Fields rifled an on-time go to Herbert throughout the aim line.
“Pretty special,” Getsy stated. “You get into these low (pink) zone areas, and that’s what we discuss on a regular basis — quarterbacks extending performs. I might think about half the scores within the league come from that.
“Him being able to do that there — create some extra time, get some space, get the defense running a little bit — that was a really cool play to see.”
Those are moments to construct on, examples of an offense that’s enhancing and a quarterback who’s seizing alternatives to make performs.
Asked Tuesday for his private favourite play from a profession day, Fields selected a third-and-10 conversion on the Bears’ closing landing drive — a decisive 11-yard dart into a good window to Moore with strain in his face after heart Lucas Patrick prematurely snapped the ball.
“My boy Lucas blacked out and snapped it on the first ‘Set-go!’ Fields said. “That’s why we had some guys unblocked. But we call those no-flinch throws — just staying in the pocket and delivering the strike.”
Two performs after going through second-and-18, the Bears had a primary down in Denver territory. Eight performs after that, with Fields’ TD go to Herbert, they had been again in the long run zone and again within the groove.
“I think everybody definitely took a step and is more confident going into this week,” Fields stated.
Now it will likely be attention-grabbing to see how they construct from right here.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com