Justin Fields is on course for a rough 2022. He isn’t happy about it. Nobody would be. The sad reality is the Chicago Bears offense is a mess. They have limited talent across the board. It’s hard to play quarterback at a high level when that is the case. Fields did everything he could to give them a chance against the Washington Commanders on Thursday night. It wasn’t enough. That said, this should not excuse him for the mistakes he made.
Fields continues to show troubling tendencies in his own play. For every fantastic deep throw he uncorks each week, there are far too many layups he leaves out there. The missed TD to Ryan Griffin early in the game is a perfect example. Those are the kinds of throws he has to hit. Longtime NFL analyst Greg Cosell, one of the business’s most respected film study guys, recognizes a key issue with Fields. It is a problem many quarterbacks have faced in the past and one that isn’t easy to overcome.
“Fields is really at this moment still lacking any refined sense of anticipation. He’s a see it, throw it quarterback. And by that, I mean he needs the throw to be clearly defined and he needs to see the throw, and in the NFL that limits the throws you can make because you have to be able to throw the ball with some sense of timing because of the defense.”
More experienced Bears fans will recognize that assessment.
Why? Mainly because it is the exact same one leveled on former Bears quarterback Jay Cutler. He was constantly criticized for having the same issues. For all his amazing arm talent, he too often made the easy completions look challenging because he didn’t trust the timing and rhythm of a play. Doug Farrar wrote about it for Bleacher Report back in 2018.
“Though he has one of the best arms of his generation and he’s more mobile than he’s given credit for being, Cutler has two major issues that have stood in the way of his development. First, he’s what you call a “see it and throw it” quarterback—he doesn’t throw with anticipation consistently. That means his play-designers need to adapt by focusing on route concepts that result in easy openings for receivers. Otherwise, Cutler will throw the ball into coverage in ways you’d expect a rookie quarterback to get chewed out for.”
Justin Fields is caught in the same trap Cutler was.
He’s stuck behind a piss-poor offensive line with no wide receivers to throw to. Everybody remembers 2010. Cutler was sacked 56 times that year and threw to a combo of Devin Hester, Earl Bennett, and Johnny Knox. Fields’ situation might actually be worse, and he doesn’t have Cutler’s experience. That is what makes the remaining schedule so terrifying. There is a legitimate chance the young quarterback may not finish the season. The line can’t protect him, and he can’t get the ball out fast enough to protect himself.
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It is a bad combination. Cutler should know. He experienced it and freely admitted the beatings impacted the rest of his time in Chicago. That is the great fear many have with Justin Fields. He’ll be so broken down by the punishment that he’ll be a shadow of his former self by the time the Bears can reload the offense. It is sad more than anything. Cutler never worked out and people still wonder if it was the situation around him or if he was just too flawed. Fields is headed down that same path.
