As is often the case when a quarterback is struggling, two camps tend to form: the defense and the prosecution. One side argues all the reasons why the quarterback isn’t at fault, and the other side pokes holes in those arguments. That is the case with Justin Fields through six games. It isn’t new that the Chicago Bears QB is struggling. His passer rating is the second-lowest in the entire NFL, and he’s tied for the fewest touchdown passes.
His defenders have a clear argument for why that is. He’s surrounded by the worst supporting cast in the league. His offensive line can’t pass protection and his wide receivers drop too many of his accurate throws. Now there is some truth to this argument. Plenty of people in the national media agree the Bears offense lacks talent. However, more than a few aren’t as sympathetic. They believe Fields brings many of the problems on himself.
ESPN analytics expert Seth Walder is one of them. Fields is the most sacked (23) and pressured (31.2%) quarterback in football. Those numbers are concrete. Where Walder has a problem is who deserves most of the blame. He provided hard data suggesting Fields’ actions led to far too many of those sacks and pressures.
Justin Fields' high sack rate is mostly on him, not the Bears' offensive line.
Left: Fields' astronomical sack rate comes despite a strong Bears pass block win rate.
Right: Fields takes sacks late. He has only taken 5 sacks this year under the median sack time (4.29s). pic.twitter.com/Px1hct917q
— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) October 18, 2022
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These are all screenshots at 2.5 seconds after the snap on plays where Fields eventually took a sack. pic.twitter.com/KX6DtV7WlZ
— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) October 18, 2022
Justin Fields does hold the ball too long.
Even his most ardent defenders admit as much. His worst tendency is not being willing to accept checkdowns to his tight ends and running backs when the bigger plays aren’t there. He actually has more completions of over ten yards (23) than he does between zero and nine (21). Part of that might be the feeling he can use his exceptional speed to escape when necessary. While valid, that mentality also opens him up to far more hits.
Yes, there are times when the offensive line suffers breakdowns in their protection. It’s not the most capable group. That said, there are more than a few instances of them forming an adequate pocket for Justin Fields to make throws. More often than not, he either takes a sack or takes off running. Both sides are at fault, but Fields is the only one in a position to do anything about it.
The offensive line can’t improve until at least next off-season. That means the quarterback has to do a better job getting the ball out of his hands. The longer this goes with Fields failing to make those adjustments, the more people in the organization may question if he ever will.
@Jordo – That’s part of the problem. There’s no NEED for six articles per day. Two coherent, intelligent articles per day would be more than enough.
It’s like having just enough water to satiate two potted plants, but instead you water six. Rather than having two green and healthy plants you have six plants withered, yellowed, listless…barely clinging to life.
Not defending Lambert but some of you haters try coming up with 6 articles a day that are going to be liked and agreed with by everyone.
Offensive Coordinators who refuse to tailor their offenses to the true strengths of their quarterbacks are butt stupid.
Many experts who are more qualified than is Walder with Super Bowl rings. Young, Dilfer, Manning.. disagree with your analytics. These numbers only tell a small part of the story.
Blah blah blah! Same old crap from Lambert. Let me correct you on something. Those of us who are defending Fields have one important thing in common – We freely acknowledge he needs to improve in certain areas, especially under the circumstances in which he was drafted. Since you have selective memory I’ll remind you of just 2 key points: 1. He was drafted into an organization with a “Lame Duck” GM and coaching staff running a system that they never even pretended to try to adjust to their rookie QBs skillset. 2. Now just 6 games into his 2nd… Read more »