Justin Fields Shot Down Any Excuses For Bears Passing Woes
The Chicago Bears passing offense is off to a historically bad start. They’ve yet to cross the 300-yard mark as their fourth game approaches. Justin Fields has two touchdowns, four interceptions, and a completion rate hovering around 50%. People have grasped at excuses for why this might be. It’s a brand new offense under coordinator Luke Getsy. Switching schemes can lead to growing pains. The Bears have limited options at wide receiver. The offensive line can’t pass protect.
Except all of those ideas don’t hold as much merit as people want to believe. Receivers have been open often in the past two weeks. The pass protection hasn’t been great, but it’s been average. Quarterbacks should be able to hit at least 200 yards per game with average protection. Fields can barely muster half of that. To his credit, the second-year QB didn’t rise to the bait when asked about the team’s passing struggles. He stated without stark clarity that the level of play thus far is unacceptable.
“Yeah, for sure, I think it’s just constantly getting better. Of course, it’s early right now. But I guarantee you all the guys in the locker room on the offense, they’re not going to make that excuse. ‘It’s early. We don’t want to be as productive.’ This and that. So you can really just throw that out the window for me because I want to be as productive as I could be. … So again, I played terrible. I’m going to get better. We’re going to get better as a whole.”
Justin Fields isn’t shrinking from his responsibilities.
Even during the game against Houston, he owned up to his mistakes. Teammates and coaches never got on him about it. They continued to provide encouragement. They know it’s a long season, and he still has lots of learning to do. There is no reason to panic. Chicago is 2-1 with a chance to go 3-1 against a banged-up New York Giants team on Sunday. They have one of the best running games in the league. The team doesn’t need him to be Superman to compete.
All they’re asking is for him to show modest improvement. That should be attainable as his mastery of the scheme grows in the coming weeks. He played three well-coached defenses during those first weeks. It won’t be like that all year. Soon he’s going to encounter opponents that give him serious chances to get out of his funk. That may not be Sunday, but if it is, then the Bears will be in great shape as they enter the meat of their schedule.