Justin Fields is a 24 year old quarterback for the Chicago Bears. In his second season, under a new coaching staff, on a roster comprised of subpar players at nearly every position, Justin set records running the football for more than 1,100 yards with 8 TDs and made nearly every game feel competitive, winning just three games and finishing 3-14 on the season, losing 7 games by less than a touchdown. He struggled in the passing game throwing for less than 2,300 yards, 17 TDs and 11 INTs on 192 of 318 attempts.
With nearly half the attempts of many starting quarterbacks in 2022, the focus of the offense was on the rushing game in large part due to the state of the roster. Luke Getsy finally figured it out in week 7 against the Patriots in Foxborough and it was the beginning of hope for the future of this team. The three headed monster was comprised of David Montgomery, Khalil Herbert, and the dynamic running of Justin Fields. His ability took the NFL by storm and Justin gave us a glimpse of what the future could look like.
Skip to the start of the 2023 season and OOOOOF! Justin has had his share of struggles, missing wide open receivers, staring down covered receivers, ending games with pick sixes and a strip sack returned for a TD, things look bleak when you look at all that baaaaaad.
Then you see those flashes...
The narrative has been that Justin Fields hasn't thrown for 300 yards, so he did, and 4 tuddies. Then he fumbled and threw an interception. It's true. But those are things that can improve with development and coaching. He's starting his third season and many good to great quarterbacks, even some of the great Hall of Fame quarterbacks have had slow starts to their careers. Look it up.
My favorite example of a slow starting quarterback is Steve Young. Drafted by Tampa Bay and traded to San Francisco in his second season, only to sit behind Joe Montana for nearly five years. That's seven full seasons before he became the guy and won games.
Joe Montana didn't turn his win loss record around until his 3rd season.
Troy Aikman and Ken Stabker both took four seasons to have a winning record.
Terry Bradshaw and Warren Moon didn't see winning records for five seasons.
The point is, some players take longer to develop than others, and that doesn't mean you give up on them for the next shiny new first round draft pick.
Justin Fields just went out and did what he was supposed to do against a bad Denver Broncos team, played out of his mind, and we can debate the blame for the interception and fumble, but that Bears defense gave up a record 24 points in the second half. It's no excuse for Justin's costly mistakes, but it has to be a part of the conversation.
If we're being honest, the defense has to be a large part of the conversation when you're discussing Justin Fields win loss record. If we're REALLY being honest we discuss how silly it is to use a win loss record as a QB stat. Why?
What was Ken Stablers win loss record?
What about Ryan Leaf?
Shane Matthews?
Hell, what is Jim McMahon's, Peyton Manning's, Brett Favre's?
No one remembers a QBs record. It's used to shit all over quarterbacks and it's childish. If you're reducing a QB to their win loss record then some of the greats aren't so great anymore. Quarterbacks are remembered for their ability to make plays, and the great quarterbacks are remembered for making those plays in the BIGGEST moments. It's true, Justin Fields hasn't shown to be a great quarterback, by that definition, but he's made plays, big plays at just enough opportune moments to keep games interesting.
Does that mean he'll never be a great quarterback? Absolutely not! He has all the potential to become a great quarterback, and as this team continues to gel and learn how to make plays they're going to be a more dangerous team if Justin Fields is a part of that team.
I'll forever have faith in Justin Fields improvement even in the most challenging times, but I can have a conversation about his faults, his mistakes, his COSTLY mistakes because that's all part of learning the game.
He has difficulty reading some defensive schemes. He doesn't trust his offensive line in its current state.
Knowing those two things alone, the gameplan should include quick reads, short routes with quick drops to build confidence in the offense early. The first few games of this season saw 10-15-20 yard routes that were taking far too long to develop, and Justin was having trouble reading those routes, sometimes tracking his receivers too long while they were covered and not moving in to his next read.
The game plan against the Broncos included just that, quick reads, shirt eoutes with quick drops to build confidence early. The team did well to avoid costly penalties and mistakes early in the game and things were clicking. This was the Chicago Bears team that we want to see consistently, and it began with getting their best players going early, Justin Fields and DJ Moore.
We're starting to see it, my tortured Chicago Bears fan friends. Don't give up on him for that next shiny draft pick, or undrafted rookie QB. Don't give up on Justin Fields. Some of you want to give up on him for Caleb Williams and I understand the desire to get a new guy, but haven't we done that enough?
When's the last time we got behind a quarterback in Chicago, tand saw them take off like a rocket?
Maybe we should try THAT for a change and maybe, just MAYBE, we will have an opportunity to see greatness from the QB position in Chicago.
Agreed!!!