Nobody wants to jump to conclusions about Justin Fields after three games. That is especially true when the team is 2-1. However, people can’t ignore what their eyes are telling them. Fields has played two of the worst games of his NFL career in consecutive weeks. Hopes were high that he could rebound against the Houston Texans. Instead, he went 8-of-17 for 106 yards and two interceptions. He was also sacked four times.
People can talk about the offensive line and the wide receivers all day. In reality, a good quarterback wouldn’t look this inept throwing the football. Not in today’s QB-friendly NFL. Sunday didn’t show the Texans defense dominating anything. The Chicago Bears rampaged through them for 284 yards on the ground. There were multiple instances where Fields had receivers and tight ends open. He just couldn’t hit them.
His two interceptions were perfect examples. He had Cole Kmet open on the first one but sailed the throw too long. On the second one, Kmet was open on a check down, but Fields threw to Darnell Mooney in triple coverage instead. That comes back to the serious concerns about his field vision. That is probably why he again failed to crack the 20-pass attempts mark for the third straight game. The Bears coaches won’t let him throw because they can’t trust him to.
Justin Fields can’t keep playing like this.
The Bears are willing to be patient with him. He’s done enough to earn that right. Still, it’s impossible to forget his newfound reality. This regime didn’t draft him. GM Ryan Poles and Matt Eberflus committed to him for 2022, but they have no obligation to go beyond that. He has to earn the right to hold that job. Right now, he isn’t doing it. Through three games, he has more interceptions (4) than touchdowns (2) and is completing barely 50% of his passes. That is atrocious.
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People want to blame the coaches, the receivers, and the offensive line for this. Unfortunately, Justin Fields looked like this last year too. He doesn’t have the excuse of being a rookie this time around. Good quarterbacks typically show signs of progress around this point in their careers. Nobody is pushing the eject button yet. He will remain the starter, as he should. Young quarterbacks deserve time to work themselves out of a funk.
That said, patience won’t last forever. At some point, this regime will have a decision to make. Do they want to move forward with Fields as their guy, or should they start scouting alternatives next off-season? There is a strong probability an answer to that question will materialize by Halloween.
