Justin Fields is playing better than he did at the start of the year.
Center Lucas Patrick wishes he could detail why. He said the Bears quarterback has been the same every day — taking notes, speaking up when he needs to and trying to hold the offense accountable.
“I think people are starting to see how much this locker room has his back,” Patrick said Monday.
Fields has room to grow, to be sure, but Sunday he led the Bears to their most impressive win in two years. Upon further review, here’s a look at his performance in the 28-13 win against the Lions at Soldier Field:
Running away
On third-and-eight from the 11-yard line in the first quarter, Fields took a shotgun snap and shuffled backward until the toes of his left foot were on the Bears’ goal line.
Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson rushed past right tackle Darnell Wright and reached for Fields with his right hand. Blitzing linebacker Alex Anzalone spun and grabbed Fields’ hip, only for the quarterback to step up in the pocket and shuffle outside the left hash.
Fields doubled back across the field and ran to his right, passing midfield at the 5 and the right hash at the 7. Fields sprinted up the field and slid down at the 30, gaining 19 yards.
The best part for coach Matt Eberflus?
“The sustaining of the blocks for the offensive line and the backs,” he said. “The ‘finish’ part of that helps him ... to avoid the sack.”
The Bears have been pleased with Fields looking downfield more often when he scrambles. But the 19-yard run looked a lot like some of his best carries last year.
“He’s so strong and he’s got strong [lower-body strength] and he’s got great balance,” Eberflus said. “He has the ability to put it on guys for 19 yards — or, as you saw last year, even more than that.”
Fields used his legs to bury the Lions later in the game, sprinting 11 yards to the front right pylon on third-and-goal to go up 12 with about 14 minutes to play. Fields ran 19.58 mph, the second-fastest time of any quarterback Sunday.
Fields torches the Lions on the ground. In his four games against them under Eberflus and coordinator Luke Getsy, Fields has run 53 times for a whopping 441 yards and three touchdowns.
The Lions contained him on planned runs Sunday. Most of Fields’ yardage was on scrambles. Fields considering whether to run, though, led to instances of indecision. On second-and-nine midway through the third quarter, Fields dropped back into a clean pocket, scrambled right, stopped and was sacked by Hutchinson.
The defensive end was double-teamed at the line of scrimmage before Fields’ rollout changed his angle toward the quarterback. The sack was Hutchinson’s second in eight games — the other was Fields’ safety last month.
Cadence
Patrick spent the week worrying about the Fields’ cadence. Because the Bears had played four of their last five games on the road — where they used a silent count — Patrick suspected the Lions had time to scout their home games to try to time up his snaps.
“With TV copies and how big the league is now, there are microphones everywhere,” he said.
That’s why Patrick was so impressed by Fields’ cadence when it mattered most — when the quarterback got the Lions to jump offside on fourth-and-12 with 1:42 left in the third quarter. Fields used the free play to throw a 38-yard touchdown strike to receiver DJ Moore. Had Hutchinson not jumped, the Bears would have taken a delay-of-game penalty and punted.
“Justin [was] handling it just like a normal protection adjustment if it was third-and-12,” Patrick said.
Patrick — who was Aaron Rodgers’ center when the former Packers quarterback was the master of the free play — praised receivers Darnell Mooney and Moore for beating their defenders on the quick snap. And Fields for throwing a dart.
“You can’t execute it any better,” he said.
Out of sync
Fields was better at making anticipatory throws in the second half after a clunky first. But there were still some passes he wanted back. On the fourth quarter’s first play, he had tight end Cole Kmet open in the left flat for a nine-yard touchdown but didn’t lead the ball to his left far enough. The ball went above his head and between his arms.
On the next drive, Fields faced third-and-two from the Lions’ 10. Mooney went in motion and into the right flat. He was open at the 6, but Fields threw the ball too far right. The Bears settled for a field goal.
It was the latest example of Fields and Mooney being out of sync. He completed passes to Mooney on only two of seven targets Sunday. On the season, Fields has connected with Mooney on only 55% of his targets. Moore has caught 74% of his targets and Kmet 81%.
Reestablishing that connection in the season’s final four weeks is critical to both players. Mooney is in the last year of his contract, and Fields needs to balance the offense.
“There’s some plays where I might have missed [Mooney] or we just didn’t connect,” Fields said. “But that’s why we work after practice doing extra routes and stuff like that. … One thing about Darnell Mooney, he’s going to put in the work to be successful. I’m not really worried about that.”
