Justin Fields racked up plenty of rushing yards in leading the Bears to 17 straight points, and then his legs failed him.
In what may become the most indicative moment of Justin Fields’ career, the Fox Sports football broadcast just how much Justin Fields’ hamstrings were hurting him in the second half. First they showed Justin Fields getting stretched out by the trainers. The broadcast then showed trainers working on Justin Fields’ hamstring with a massage gun that hammers away at muscles with repetitive vibrations.
None of that was enough to help Justin Fields rally the Bears late in the fourth quarter as Fields was forced to make plays from the pocket for the entire second half, and he couldn’t drive the offense for any scores and the Bears’ offense went up in flames. Every concern I’ve had about Justin Fields over the last four games reared its ugly head.
The strain Justin Fields put on his body over the last four games, games in which the Bears lost three straight before the fourth one day highlighted that Fields WILL NEVER BE THE QUARTERBACK the Bears need to be competitive on an annual basis.
The Bears can surround Justin Fields with better protection and better talent but he just doesn’t have the instincts to be the QB that wins games because of his play. The Bears CAN WIN WITH JUSTIN FIELDS, BUT THEY WILL NEVER WIN BECAUSE OF JUSTIN FIELDS and that is the key takeaway from this game and this season.
It’s not that the Bears needed to win this game, it was that Justin Fields needed to drive the Bears down the field to put them in a position to win the game. The defense is a mess, but when the defense keeps your team in the game late in the fourth quarter and your QB can’t generate enough consistency in the passing game to give your team a chance, it says everything.
The #Bears had 99 yards of offense in the second half.
— Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. (@wiltfongjr) November 20, 2022
The Bears generate 99 yards of offense in the second half and it never felt that good. Fields’ legs not only failed him, but the Falcons took away his ability to make plays outside the pocket. They double-teamed his receivers on his half off of the field on designed rollouts. They kept him inside the pocket and forced him into doing what he hasn’t yet proved he can do.
Bears offensive players have been asking for another opportunity just like this one. Let's see how they respond.
— Dan Wiederer (@danwiederer) November 20, 2022
Fields missed a wide-open Darnell Mooney on a go route in the first half, and then followed it up with three passes batted at the line of scrimmage. He ran around for 12 seconds trying to find an open receiver because he couldn’t go through his progressions properly to deliver the ball on time within the pocket.
The Bears now face a massive conundrum. They will have to find a QB of the future, but they won’t draft a QB in this draft to put them in a position to win. They will seek to build around Fields and then struggle to win games against teams that have talent equal to what they put on the field. What will it take for the Bears to finally be annual contenders for the playoffs and the Super Bowl?
Because the reality is you can’t teach Justin Fields to be what he isn’t.
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