Chicago Bears QB Justin Fields closing the rushing gap on Lamar Jackson

It is fair to say that nobody saw this coming — nobody.

If there’s a single soul out there who believed that Justin Fields would be busting loose, this much, then we need to find that person and ask for receipts. The Chicago Bears quarterback has been turning heads for a few weeks now, and turning a serious corner in his development.

Although it’s not yet equating to wins and losses — and we can blame the defense for that — Fields has officially arrived. He is enjoying a full-blown second-year breakout, and all fans can do is sit back, relax and watch the next chapter unfold one eye-popping play at a time.

First of all, Fields has certainly taken a step forward throwing the football. Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy has done a phenomenal job with Fields in terms of getting him easy, open looks and coaching him to find those sooner rather than later. Reading the field has been a gigantic positive in Fields’ last few games — something we’ve been waiting to see.

But, where Fields has truly shined is when he uses is legs — and he’s been so good that he’s closing the gap on the NFL’s best in that department: Baltimore Ravens quarterback and former MVP, Lamar Jackson.

Justin Fields has Chicago Bears fans raving, and is set to surpass Lamar Jackson as the premier rushing quarterback in all of football this season.

It’s remarkable, really. Fields has been on a tear his last four games, and his latest act included breaking an NFL record held by the greatest rushing quarterback the league has ever seen in Michael Vick.

In those four games, he has rushed for a total of 408 yards. On the season, Fields has 602 rushing yards. So, over his past four games, he has doubled his production over the first five games of the season.

Jackson, meanwhile has totaled 635 rushing yards on the season to go with two rushing touchdowns. Fields has notched four rushing touchdowns, including one in each of his last three games.

If we’re judging by Fields’ production these last four games, he is on pace for 1,418 rushing yards over the course of the 2022 season which would shatter Jackson’s record set back in 2019 where he ran for 1,206 yards that year.

Should Fields continue down this path, he’ll have an NFL MVP trophy in his future. To be only a season and a half in and exploding onto the scene like he is, without much talent around him, is astounding. This is what the Bears were expecting when they moved up to draft him — but was anyone expecting this kind of breakout, and this soon?

All eyes were set on a 2023 breakout and a 2022 season that saw him improve, but Fields is setting the league on fire and Bears fans should be ecstatic. This franchise has something special brewing with number 1.