Justin Fields is not having much fun lately. That isn’t hard to understand. The kid is coming from an elite program at Ohio State and is now playing on the worst offense in the NFL. Sunday in Tampa Bay was his worst game of the season. One where he turned the ball over five times. While many of the mistakes were his own, he was also a victim of some truly bad luck. Not to mention yet more questionable coaching.
A perfect example came in the first half. It was the first of his three interceptions. On the play, Fields took a shot to Allen Robinson down the field. Robinson unfortunately slipped and the ball went right to the defender. What stood out about the play was what happened before that. Everything seemed to look disjointed at the start. It turns out there was a reason. Fields explained after the game.
It all started with the coaches.
Apparently, he was urged to get up to the line of scrimmage and snap the ball. They thought the Buccaneers were late getting in substitutions and the Bears thought they could get 12 men on the field. There is no visual evidence to suggest this was realistic. Fields though followed orders and moved to snap the ball. There was a problem though. The receivers weren’t ready for it.
These are the sort of things that continue to permeate with the Bears offense. A series of little things going wrong that lead to big things going wrong. Coaches urging a rookie quarterback to snap the ball quickly knowing full well he’d follow orders while not looking to alert his receivers it was coming. This is another sign that Matt Nagy and his staff can’t seem to run a smooth operation at all. These symptoms have persisted for years.
Justin Fields isn’t going to survive at this rate
People will slam him for not playing well enough. Fine. He’s a quarterback. It comes with the job description. The reality is he’s not getting help. The offensive line allowed four sacks on the afternoon and several more pressures and hits. Wide receivers and tight ends dropped multiple catchable passes. Routes aren’t being run properly. Everything is off and it isn’t getting better.
All the while, Justin Fields continues to take a lot of hits. As confident as he is, this is not something he can survive forever. The Bears have to start thinking about the future. Do they truly believe Nagy and this system is best equipped to make him a successful quarterback? There isn’t enough evidence to suggest this is the case.
This entire operation needs retooling.
We’re talking top to bottom. Better coaching and better players. The latter will be difficult next offseason because the team doesn’t have a lot of resources. However, they absolutely can do something about the coaching problem. Nagy is a decent leader and motivator. Beyond that? He doesn’t do enough to help this team function at a high level. Fields deserves better.