The Chicago Bears started the season 0-4. It continued what became the longest losing streak in franchise history. Everybody was going to get fired. No way head coach Matt Eberflus or quarterback Justin Fields will survive another year. As always, things change fast in the NFL. Since then, the Bears have gone 5-4 with three wins in their past four games. Their 28-13 demolition of Detroit was their best win in over two years. Eberflus and Fields were at the center of it. The coach guided a terrific defensive effort while the quarterback played mistake-free football.
Conversations have become more balanced on what will happen to both after the season. If the Bears finish strong, there could be a significant ground swell to keep them. At the same time, it's looking like the team will end up with the #1 overall pick again. That would give GM Ryan Poles a chance to take his favorite quarterback in what many feel is a loaded draft class. So, the question was posed on ESPN Get Up. Do the Bears start over at QB with a Caleb Williams or a Drake Maye, or do they stay the course with Fields?
Former quarterback Robert Griffin III and former Pro Bowl center Jeff Saturday agreed the decision was obvious. Fields has done more than enough to justify another year. Moving on from him for an unknown would be foolish.
Justin Fields has plenty of viable backers.
Griffin and Saturday aren't the first former players to make this statement. Future Hall of Fame left tackle Andrew Whitworth said as much a few weeks ago. Kyle Long did, too. The belief is Fields is steadily improving. He's still young and is starting to win some games. The smart thing to do is use their extensive draft capital next off-season to stack the roster around him. Bring in more weapons. Fortify an already impressive defense. Fields might not be perfect, but he's better than many options this franchise has had over the years.
Williams and Maye are strong prospects. Draft analysts love them. Still, what Saturday said is true. "Generational" gets thrown around way too often in evaluations. Few ever actually lived up to the hype. John Elway, Peyton Manning, and Andrew Luck are the only ones in the past 40 years. So it comes down to how confident the Bears would be one of those two, or somebody else in the 2024 class will end up better than Justin Fields. The young starter has a 104.5 passer rating with 11 TDs and two interceptions in his last six games. It feels like he may have figured some things out.
This decision isn't an easy one.
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