Chicago Bears on the rise and fall after beating Minnesota
By Todd Welter
Here is who is on the decline…
Justin Fields
Maybe he should have been listed as neutral. While he passed the comeback test, he failed to secure the football when it mattered the most test.
The only reason the Chicago Bears were down 10-9 in the first place was because Fields fumbled with 9:53 left in the fourth. He was scrambled around and held onto the ball too long again when he lost the ball. It hurt even more as the offense was driving down the field to put Minnesota away.
Minnesota capitalized on the turnover to score the game’s only touchdown.
Fields almost did not get the chance to play hero as he fumbled on the team’s next possession as he was trying to dash for first down.
If he were a running back, he would have been benched after that.
Justin Fields had two inexcusable fumbles. Just brutal.
— Adam Rank (@adamrank) November 28, 2023
He went out and won that game. I don’t know what some of you want.
He threw an absolute dime to Moore to set up that game-winning field goal, but on the two plays before he was hesitant again with the ball and missed some open receivers.
Fields was inconsistent overall. He was good in certain parts of the game (the first drive he was amazing) and bad in others (for example, he missed a wide-open Darnell Mooney by throwing the ball late).
Part of that was the game plan (he will address that shortly).
He completed 27 of 37 passes for 217 yards and ran for another 59 yards on 12 carries. Now he needs to use these final five games to be more decisive and protect the ball when he runs.
The problem with the Justin Fields discourse is he’s playing for a team that gives him Almost no breathing room for growth, so when he does make a mistake, it’s disastrous.
— Chris Rongey (@ChrisRongey) November 28, 2023
If he’s not flawless on every single play, the meatballs come out for blood.