Justin Fields is struggling. That much is undeniable. The rookie had his worst overall game of the season in Tampa Bay, turning the ball over five times in a 38-3 beatdown. This has led several critics to come out and accuse him of being the primary issue with the offense. One of their biggest arguments? The fact that the rookie can’t seem to recognize where and when a blitz is coming from the defense. One person who is tired of hearing that is Bill Lazor.
The Chicago Bears offensive coordinator was asked that question at the start of his weekly press conference on Thursday. Normally even-keel, it seems like Lazor bristled a bit at the question. Then he responded by calling the media member by his first name, something he doesn’t do, before stating in no uncertain terms that Fields can recognize the blitz just fine. That is the core of the issue with this offense.
It sounds like Lazor’s frustrations lay elsewhere.
Specifically the offensive line and maybe even the scheme itself. He stated how Fields is trusting his protection to hold up because he’s looking down the field. This suggests that the blocking isn’t getting the job done in his eyes (he’s not wrong) and the constant desire to push the ball vertically is opening the rookie up to a lot of hits. There are still too many five-man protections and not enough play action as well.
People will say Lazor is to blame for this because he is calling the plays now. In reality, that is not entirely true. He might be calling plays, but he is still running Nagy’s offensive system. The philosophies remain the same. This is why it seems like the Bears continue to call an offense meant for Andy Dalton rather than Fields.
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Bill Lazor has become more vocal lately
This isn’t the first time he has spoken out in defense of Fields while also criticizing the plans going into games. He wasn’t shy about pointing out the problems with their protection plan against the Cleveland Browns in the rookie’s first start last month. Now here he is again pointing out that the quarterback being inept is simply not true. The problems with this offense go much deeper than that.
As stated earlier, the offensive line still can’t block with any consistency. Wide receivers struggle to get open. The tight ends aren’t impacting the passing game much at all. Right now the only thing that is working is the running game, ranking 6th in the NFL. Yet the Bears seem unable to take full advantage of it due to a lack of commitment to play action. So one might understand why Bill Lazor seems frustrated.
Remember he had no prior ties to Nagy.
He was hired in 2020. That was the first time the two had ever worked together. The assistant coach was looking for a job and being an offensive coordinator was a great opportunity. There was no way for him to know what he was getting himself into. Now here he is, forced to defend his young quarterback from critics blaming him for offensive issues that aren’t his fault.