Justin Fields didn’t have a “good” game against the Green Bay Packers. Here’s the thing though. He didn’t have a bad one either. Some of it was bad, but some of it was good and a bit of it was really good. This is the rookie quarterback experience. It is a roller coaster in every sense of the word. People who were expecting greatness out of the gate were fooling themselves. This is how it is for most rookies.
The reality is Fields had a good first drive, some ugly drives through the 2nd and 3rd quarters, and then delivered his best drive of the year in the 4th. He finished the game 16-of-27 for 171 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. The interception wasn’t really his fault. He thought he had a free play because of a perceived Packers offsides penalty. It wasn’t called and the interception stood. He also rushed for 43 yards on six carries. His best performance on the ground of the season.
So yeah. Up and down.
There were some questionable throws. Fields also still has a tendency to hold the ball too long, resulting in unnecessary sacks. In fairness, part of that is the offense he plays in. One that has a lot of slow-developing routes that require good pass protection. Something the Bears offensive line can’t provide. Still, it is an issue he must work on. That being said, there was also a lot of good too.
None more so than the second-to-last drive of the game. Chicago trailed 17-7. They badly needed a score before things got away from them. What did Fields do? He engineered a 90-yard drive in 10 plays. He went 5-of-5 during it for 64 yards including a touchdown to Darnell Mooney to cut the Packers lead to 17-14. The most impressive sequence came after a holding penalty made it 1st-and-20 at Green Bay’s 26. Fields hit Robinson for 8 yards and Kmet for 10 to make it 3rd and 2, which Khalil Herbert picked up on the ground. They scored on the next play.
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Justin Fields, to his credit, didn’t like how he played
He didn’t chalk his uneven performance up to anything special the Packers did. This was a simple case of him not playing well enough. A good reminder that as a leader he’ll take responsibility for the failures. He admitted his play after the opening drive stuck out the most. Especially before the end of the first half. Lulls like that can’t happen. Nobody is going to debate that. An interception and four punts don’t beat Aaron Rodgers.
“I should have played better. I didn’t play as good as I wanted to”. – #Bears QB Justin Fields.
— Zack Pearson (@Zack_Pearson) October 17, 2021
The big debate moving forward isn’t with Justin Fields and his status as the starter. It is what the Bears are going to do around him. This entire infrastructure needs work. He doesn’t have enough protection. The coaching has been subpar and hasn’t really improved that much despite switching play callers. It’s almost like a bad offense will always be bad as long as the guy building it remains in charge. That is Matt Nagy. Is this really the guy Chicago wants guiding the future of this young QB?
Probably not.
Fields has the foundation necessary to be a good quarterback in this league. He’s smart, tough, aggressive, and fearless. What he needs is somebody who can accentuate his strengths and hide his weakness. All while putting complimentary talent around him. Until the Bears are ready to do that, fans will have to hope he continues showing improvement.