‘You can see the hunger.’ What drives Justin Fields to change perceptions of the Chicago Bears offense in the QB’s 2nd season?
If everything had gone exactly as designed, Justin Fields would have taken the shotgun snap on third-and-8, eased through his five-step drop, then waited without anxiety for Equanimeous St. Brown to pop open on a dig route.
Fifteen yards downfield, breaking across the middle, right to left.
See it. Sling it. Complete it.
Boom!
That’s the way it’s drawn up. And that’s the way a quarterback is supposed to envision the sequence when he previews it mentally.
This, however, is the NFL. And every coach’s desire for a playbook concept to unfold with perfect precision is often Pollyannaish.
It’s convenient to believe 11 men will function in unison without error, allowing whiteboard strategy to come alive like a choreographed Cirque du Soleil act. But the most successful teams typically need starting quarterbacks with an expertise in making chicken salad.
Thus on Aug. 27 at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Fields had to improvise on the third-down play his offensive coordinator, Luke Getsy, sent in. As Fields hit the top of his drop, he spotted a flash of white in the pocket, the No. 96 Browns jersey of infiltrating defensive tackle Jordan Elliott.
Now it was up to the Bears quarterback to react. Scratch that dig route. Insert, instead, a clockwise tornado spin by Fields, 5 yards backward and out the back door of the pocket.
That’s how you keep a disrupted play from becoming a disaster. Now Fields had space again, determined to use the controlled tempo of his rollout and the movement of his eyes to make a play.
As taught, he began outside, eyeing wide receiver Dante Pettis beyond the sticks. But Browns cornerback Greedy Williams was sitting on that route, so Fields peeked back toward tight end Cole Kmet, enough so that his eyes puppeteered the Browns defense inside.
Now Pettis had space near the left sideline and Fields had a throwing lane. With no hesitation, he ripped a Chris Paul-esque, no-look dime to Pettis for an 11-yard gain. First down.
“My favorite play of the game,” Getsy said two days later.
That’s saying something considering the Bears offense scored three touchdowns and rolled up 198 yards on its first 29 snaps before halftime of that 21-20 preseason victory. Getsy stands by that assertion, impressed by the entirety of the sequence.
There was something about Fields’ combination of calm and focus that night, an indicator that the 23-year-old quarterback is ready to attack with the proper mentality.
Therein lies the key for the 2022 Bears. In the quest to establish Fields as their no-doubt franchise quarterback, they have to set him up
