Based on his stat line from this weekend’s preseason game against Tennessee, Fields will have the most dominant season an NFL quarterback has ever produced: 3-of-3 for 129 yards and two TDs.
OK, so both scores were on short passes taken to the house, probably reflecting a bad Titans’ defense more than anything about Fields. But it sure looks like DJ Moore is the WR1 Fields needs.
Encouraging, if not epochal.
There were several games where Fields led a drive in a game winning situation, made the right throws and his receivers let him down. One was Washington. He hit Mooney with a perfect pass right into his hands on the goal line and he dropped it. That pass wins the game if Mooney catches it. There was another late game drive with a chance to win and he hit Equiminius St. Brown with a perfect pass right into his hands where only he could have cought it on 4th down, but he also dropped it. He was not dismal in crunch time. He can’t catch the ball himself.
Yep. That’s one the Bears should have had. But for the most part, Fields was dismal in crunch time:
Those numbers would have slightly improved had Mooney caught that ball, but they’d still be lousy.
This year, with more experience, better protection and better receivers, I expect him to be much better.
Well one thing about the 4th quarter on a team with the worst defense in the league is that you are almost always behind, and the opposing defense knows you will have to pass. We also had one of the worst pass protection units and wide receiver units in the league. This combination is not conducive to being able to have an effective passing attack. He still almost led us to a couple last minute wins in spite of that. I’m not crowning him or anything like that, but we cannot take the rest of the roster out of the equation when discussing his stats.
OK, well, since the OP title is “Justin Fields and the 2023 Bears” I’ll amend my claim to “Fields and the Bears were dismal in crunch time.”
But when a team wins most of these close games, who usually gets the credit? The QB. So for Fields to demonstrate that he’s a true franchise QB, he and the rest of the team are going to have be a lot better in crunch time. And since the rest of the offense is better, if they still can’t win close games guess who’s going to get blamed?
I anticipate we’ll be much better this year in end of game situations.
I don’t expect a team to be good in those situations during a “tear it down to the studs” year with the worst roster in the league. It would have taken one of the greatest QB prospects in the history of the game to have made that team good last year by himself.
Let’s see what happens. All I’m saying is that individual stats out of context don’t tell the whole story. The book on him isn’t written yet, but I see a lot of takes claiming he’s already a bust. That seems wildly premature and divorced from what I’ve seen of him so far on the field.
Music to my ears.
Have one or both on your fantasy team? I’m guessing from your avatar and posting history you’re no Bears fan.
DJ Moore has been the best receiver on my dynasty team for a couple years now. I was crestfallen when he was traded to the Bears, but I figured his QB was never good in Carolina anyway so maybe it would work out. Early signs seem good from the sound of it.
The first preseason game unfortunately gives us no insight into Fields and the Bears passing attack. Those two big plays, both on screens, simply aren’t informative. We ran too few plays and the plays we did run were not sophisticated and he never looked downfield once.
We may have learned that PJ Walker is terrible though.
I know. The first one wasn’t even thrown well – but Moore not only made the catch, he turned around and ran 60 yards with it. So if nothing else, we know he’s an upgrade at WR.
But I started the thread about Fields so I figured I oughta update it.
This. The first option is too definitive - I think he’ll be a better passer, but he still has a long way to go before he’s even average. But I don’t think the Bears move on even if he doesn’t make a huge leap.
I just saw that Fields will start in the preseason game against Buffalo, with this OL:
If you’re keeping score at home, that’s one (maybe two, with Whitehair) out of five projected starters. I know QB1 needs more reps, but this is dangerous. Worst case, he gets hurt. 2nd worst case, he gets no protection and looks just like he did last year. Best case? I guess we see if he’s learned how to hit a hot read.
I’m actually okay with Kramer. I think he’s the best Center on the roster. They also seem to think Carter has a future as a starter, so he’ll merit watching. King of interesting that Leatherwood is getting work on the left side if Whitehair sits. I think up until now he’s been viewed as a run blocking RG.
So naturally, Kramer left the stadium with his arm in a sling. The Bears’ interior OL is just frickin’ cursed.
Fields didn’t look so hot, either. If he fizzles against Green Bay, watch the cries for Tyson Bagent pick up.
Unsurprisingly the Bears waived PJ Walker. Bagent season is upon us. I’m here for it.
Quite surprisingly, we cut Alex Leatherwood. While he hasn’t exactly shown out since being claimed last year, we are an absolute MASH unit on the middle of line. Seems like he was going to be an essential swing man.
Wonder what changed. I don’t think we have a log jam at the position, that’s for sure. Perhaps they simply wanted to cut the salary if he was viewed as interchangeable with some rookie. Maybe there’s a veteran floating around out there who Poles expects to be cut? Not sure if there any advantage to to cutting him a day early.
Big surprise for me, too – and if I’m not mistaken, his salary is guaranteed anyway, and counts fully against the cap. Seems like a position where Poles would be adding bodies, not subtracting them. Maybe Leatherwood’s got an attitude problem?
Leatherwood was a 1st round draft pick who was cut from his team after his rookie year. The fact an NFL team gave up on a first round draft pick after just one year of real games, even a disfunctional team like the Raiders, should be a huge red flag.
OTOH, since the Raiders are such a hot mess, maybe the kid just needed a more stable environment. It was worth a waiver claim and a few million bucks to see if they could salvage a first-round talent. They couldn’t, so they moved on.
What makes it a surprise is that the Bears need people at his position – and still cut him.
UPDATE: I’m going to close the poll Friday, so hurry up and vote if you haven’t already!
I may reopen it (or start a different one) after the first few games.