Commentary: Bears are building toward a bright future |
The Bears have become one of the NFL's most exciting teams over the last couple of weeks, and the biggest reason why has been the visible growth and noticeable leap taken from second-year quarterback Justin Fields under Luke Getsy's offense in Matt Eberflus' first year as head coach of the Chicago Bears.
Fields has improved wildly as a passer over the last six weeks. During the season's first four weeks, Fields had three games with less than ten completions and three games with zero touchdown passes. Since then, Fields has thrown a touchdown or more in six straight games and completed at least 11 passes in all six contests. His touchdown-interception ratio in that span is 10-3, which has been a welcome improvement. Fields is also known to be dynamic with his legs but struggled to accumulate more than 52 yards on the ground in the Bears' first five games. Since then, Fields has rushed for over 60 yards in all five games — including five rushing touchdowns. These numbers aren't doing him justice. Look at the last three weeks. After the Bears impressive showing on Monday Night Football, throttling the Patriots, the Bears had the Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, and Detroit Lions on deck. The Cowboys entered the game as the NFL's No. 1 defense, and Fields took care of them. Fields became the first QB all season to pass for two touchdowns against the Cowboys, and he added a touchdown on his legs. The Bears scored 29 points in that contest but fell to the Cowboys. Then came Miami, where many believe Fields turned in his best game as a pro. Fields threw for three touchdowns and ran for an NFL record by a QB: 178 yards and added a score on the ground. He became the first player in the NFL this season to win player of the week in either conference in a losing effort, as the Bears lost 35-32. A week ago, the Bears faced off against the Lions. Fields threw for another pair of touchdowns and ran for an additional pair. Fields accumulated 147 yards on the ground, setting another NFL record for most rushing yards by a QB in a two-game span. Fields has accumulated eight touchdowns in the last two games and 11 in the previous three games. Fields looks like he was well worth the trade-up in the first round of the 2021 draft — and seems to be the class of the draft amongst quarterbacks. Fields growth means excellent things for the future, but the caveat is that over the last three weeks, the Bears have become the first team in NFL History to score 29+ points in three consecutive weeks and lose all three games. But, with a depleted defense due to midseason trades with eyes set on the future, the Bears were never going to make noise in the playoffs this season. So, seeing outstanding growth from a franchise quarterback plus losing each week puts the Bears in the best possible scenario for next year — with better draft picks to leverage trades OR supplement the roster for next season and the future. So while things may look bleak for the Bears at the bottom of the NFC North Standings, the Bears are building toward a future that looks brighter than any Bears future we've seen in recent memory.
