It was a low point of his career. Justin Fields had an ugly narrative following him into Minnesota. People were starting to catch onto the fact that the young quarterback had a terrible habit of brutal mistakes in the 4th quarter. He already had two fumbles and four interceptions in the final 15 minutes this season. Both fumbles cost the Chicago Bears chances at victory. Monday night at U.S. Bank Stadium was almost the same. He committed not one but two backbreaking fumbles to give the Vikings a window to take the lead.
Everybody had finally seen enough. Fields can’t hack it in crunch time. Start the Caleb Williams talk. Then something happened. The defense got a stop with 2:35 left. The offense got one final chance with no timeouts and only the two-minute warning. They’d been in the mud all night. It was now or never for Fields. Runs by him for 5 and 8 yards got them inside Minnesota territory. Then, two incompletions set up 3rd and 10 with the game on the line. Fields followed with arguably the biggest pass of his career, firing a 36-yard rocket to D.J. Moore to get them in field goal range.
Chicago drained the clock, Cairo Santos hit the kick, and Fields had a 4th quarter comeback for the first time in two years.
Justin Fields still has unanswered questions.
Managing only 12 points despite four takeaways by the defense is unacceptable. The Bears should’ve won this game by double digits. It was another sign that this was not a well-coached team. Luke Getsy is a clear liability as the offensive coordinator. It was the second time Brian Flores ate his lunch most of the game. Matt Eberflus has done great work with the defense lately, but his team still commits way too many sloppy mistakes. The past two wins were ugly, low-scoring, and against two struggling quarterbacks.
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That said, Justin Fields once again showed mental fortitude. He hung in there under tough conditions, overcame two bad mistakes, and got his team out of there with a win. Is this enough to change minds in Halas Hall about his future? That remains unclear. He still hasn’t beaten a good team this year. Still, his play in four of the last five games was good enough to win. That is something. Maybe the Bears will convince themselves Getsy is holding him back.
