A few days ago, I pinpointed a missing piece of Justin Fields‘ excellent game-winning touchdown pass to Equanimeous St. Brown against San Francisco. It showed Byron Pringle coming in motion and pointing towards the defensive end as if he were going to run block. Then Fields runs a play action fake to David Montgomery. The 49ers bit, crashing towards the line of scrimmage. St. Brown runs a good corner route, and Fields finds him for an easy touchdown. Great call and great execution.
As it turns out, there was even more brilliance on the play that I missed. Brian Baldinger of NFL Network spotted it during a tape review. While the sequence unfolded, 49ers safety Talanoa Hufanga sat in high coverage over the middle of the field. He was in good position to break on the ball when thrown. So Fields had to do something about it. He used his eyes to freeze Hufanga in place, making him think Pringle was the target crossing over the middle. Then once St. Brown started his break to the corner, Fields turned and threw it. By then, it was too late for Hufanga to do anything about it.
Justin Fields continues to show more savvy tendencies.
A lot of quarterbacks never learn to master using their eyes to manipulate safeties like that. He’s done it on multiple occasions just in the past month. It can make even the best defensive backs look helpless. That is another reminder of how much work Fields has put in during the off-season. He takes every part of the quarterback position seriously. Being a great athlete is nice, but he understands playing from the pocket must be his future.
There is work to do. He still sometimes tends to hold the ball instead of settling for his checkdowns. Stepping away from edge rushers into the pocket isn’t a natural reaction yet. These are things he has to learn. That comes with time. He’s progressing. Even so, he is so dangerous when he gets good protection. It offers an incentive for GM Ryan Poles to continue investing in the offensive line. There is much potential to explore in the coming months.
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