Chicago Bears: Is it time to bench Justin Fields?

This was supposed to be the year Chicago Bears starting quarterback Justin Fields took a step forward in the passing game. Instead, he has regressed. Now, Fields is broken and who knows if he can be fixed.

Fields has failed to cross off any items on his passer improvement checklist. Justin needed to get better at:

• Going through his progressions quicker.
• Reading defenses better.
• Getting rid of the ball faster.
• Making better and more accurate anticipatory throws
• Hitting his check-down receiver if nothing is there.
• Pocket presence.
• Winning games.

Well, he did do a good job of hitting his layup passes against Green Bay. It happened to the detriment of the rest of the checklist.

Fields felt coaching might be a reason he struggled through the first two games. He also felt his coaching had him playing too robotic. However, Fields recognized his perfectionist nature was also hurting his ability to grow as a passer.

The Chicago Bears really need to get Justin Fields going this season.

He was hoping to play freer and easier against the Kansas City Chiefs but the result was another terrible performance

Looking at the film, his poor performance was not completely on him like it was against the Packers or the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Instead, a lot of his issues were because of his teammates.

Fields was either under constant pressure. When he did have time, his receivers were not getting open against the Chiefs. It did not help his receivers dropped the ball on two nice throws.

So there is bad coaching, a bad offensive line, receiver issues, and Fields’ flaws. That will equal up to a broken quarterback. He looks broken too.

Long-time Chicago Bears beat reporter Hub Arkush thinks it is time to go with Tyson Bagent at quarterback and let Fields reset on the bench.

That idea still does not fix the contributing factors that have led to Fields’ decline. The coaching is still going to be bad under head coach Matt Eberflus and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy. Getsy’s playcalling lacks creativity and is predictable. Eberflus’ defense cannot stop a floating paper bag right now.

The offensive line is still going to be poor, especially along the interior. Now defenses know if you lock down the receivers, the offense will be rendered useless.

Plus, Tyson Bagent is still an undrafted rookie free agent trying to make the leap from Division II college football to the NFL.

He looked great in the preseason and he is the type of developmental quarterback the Chicago Bears should always have on their roster.

At the same time, his impressive preseason came against defenses not scheming against him made up of third-stringers.

To think Bagent can be inserted into the starting lineup with a healthy Fields on the bench will jump-start the offense is throwing stuff against the wall and hoping it sticks.

First, Fields’ teammates are still behind him. Second, what if Bagent’s weaknesses outweigh his strengths? He did not get drafted just because he played D-II football.

Arm strength and decision-making were also big question marks on Bagent. What if that shows up in an NFL game? It means the Bears lost and have two broken quarterbacks.

Also, we are three games into the season. You got to keep giving Fields a chance to get right. If Justin is struggling later in the year, then fine, see what Bagent can do.

Until you can rule out any contributing factors to Justin’s struggles, Fields needs to start for the Chicago Bears.