Over the years, it's become common to see the Chicago Bears have their hopes crushed by the Green Bay Packers. Sunday afternoon was no exception. The biggest disappointment was the performance of the offense. GM Ryan Poles worked tirelessly to upgrade the roster this off-season, adding multiple new weapons and beefing up the offensive line. What he got was 20 points at home, 14 of which came when the game was already out of hand. Fans have searched for somebody to blame and settled on two names. It was either offensive coordinator Luke Getsy or quarterback Justin Fields.
Getsy drew criticism for the offensive game plan, which featured constant doses of screens and other lateral moving plays. It didn't work. The Packers quickly caught on and smothered it. On the other hand, Fields again looked unequal to the task of getting the ball out fast. He looked uncomfortable in the pocket. His indecisiveness was impossible to ignore. Derrik Klassen is a top analyst for The 33rd Team, a site that features loads of current and former NFL coaches/executives/players, and he made it pretty clear where the problems lay.
From his estimation, Getsy knew what he was doing.
"We don’t even need to look into Fields’ individual play to start to understand how he’s struggled to take the next step so far. Getsy’s play-calling says it all.
For one, Fields was barely asked to throw the ball down the field. Fields’ average depth of target (3.7) and average yards to the sticks (-6.7) were both the second lowest in the league through the afternoon slate of games. Only Desmond Ridder was worse in both categories, and it was painfully obvious watching that game how little the Atlanta Falcons trust Ridder right now."
Keep in mind Klassen has no vendetta against Fields. He was actually a big proponent of the quarterback when he came out of Ohio State in 2021. However, he had to remain objective when reviewing the tape. What he found was an uncomfortable reality many people feared.
"It’s not hard to understand why the offense is still so baby-proofed, considering how Fields played on Sunday.
Fields didn’t at all look to have sped up his processing and decision-making. Not only did Fields finish with a 2.95-second time-to-throw average — the fifth-highest in the league so far — but he regularly held onto the ball for an eternity before ultimately scrambling.
Fields struggled all last season with triggering on throws unless they were completely wide open, and it doesn’t look like anything’s changed if the Packers game is any indication."
This was the most common criticism of Fields.
He lacked the ability to make quick decisions. He didn't trust the rhythm and timing of a play and would often hold the ball longer than necessary to ensure a receiver was wide open. Anybody with enough experience knows that is a recipe for disaster in the NFL. It doesn't end there, though. Klassen also pointed out another problem that hasn't been fixed. Fields struggled with his accuracy on more routine passing plays. Put another way, he still makes the layups look difficult.
"The same is true of Fields’ ball placement. Fields’ best throws are as tantalizing as it gets, but the more time passes, the more those throws feel like a siren song. The down-to-down accuracy still isn’t there. Per Next Gen Stats, Fields’ completion percentage over expectation was -7.2 percent against the Packers, the sixth-worst among the 28 quarterbacks who played before Sunday night.
The concern isn’t that Fields played poorly. It’s that Fields played poorly in the same exact ways we’ve seen him play poorly before."
Justin Fields still hasn't proven trustworthy.
He looked utterly anemic every time he's played against a tough pass defense. People will continue to blame the offensive line or the play calling. In truth, the excuses have to stop at some point. Fields might just not be good enough. Last season, he played a top-10 pass defense five times. He averaged 146.6 passing yards in those games with four touchdowns and five interceptions. Fields finished with 216 yards on Sunday after posting 95 in the first quarter. Once Green Bay caught on to the Bears' plan, they adjusted. After that, Fields had no answers.
Good quarterbacks don't struggle this much. That is the simple truth. Chicago has done everything it can to make life easier for Justin Fields. Getsy is tailoring the offense to help ease the burden on him as much as possible. It isn't enough. Yes, the offensive line isn't perfect. The truth is pass protection rarely is in this league. Top quarterbacks navigate those challenges to still find success.
The last thing Bears fans want to admit is their team got it wrong at quarterback again. This would mark the fifth-consecutive 1st round quarterback that failed to pan out for them. Yet the worst thing they can do is stand by that mistake longer than necessary. Fields has 16 games left to change this narrative.
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