Fields Debut

[Mongo3451]

When Fields entered the game the offense was completely out of rhythm.  It stayed that way through his first couple drives.  After that I saw three plays I really liked.  Of course I loved his TD run, but Mitch could have done that.  The first play I liked was one where he was rolling to the right and patiently hit the receiver that was breaking free.  Two was his long run.  Only two players in the NFL make that run, Fields and Lamar Jackson.  The only difference, Lamar would've scored, yet Fields just glides at that speed.  Third was the TD to James.  When you show elite arm strength and it looks effortless as you are rolling right and throwing left.  Impressive.  I know it's only preseason, but I have a feeling the game is going to really slow down for him at a rapid rate.  Great debut.

[BearFan PHX]

yes, and one stupid fumble aside, even in the beginning his ball placement was good. when a WR has body position like that on a slant, its up to them to catch it, Fields put the ball right where it belonged. Robinson would have caught both of those slants that were incomplete early.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

19 minutes ago, Mongo3451 said:

I know it's only preseason, but I have a feeling the game is going to really slow down for him at a rapid rate.  Great debut.

My wife was unnerved by how lax he was during the game.  Had to tell her that’s kinda the way he is.  Never let the game get to him.  Granted it was a preseason game against a team he’d been practicing against all week.  But he’s ‘been there done that’ in the pressure cooker games of college.  I agree with you; he’ll adjust the more time he gets.  

[adam]

He made the game slower which is impressive. He never got rattled with pressure. He made some mistakes early but you could tell he made adjustments in the game and then looked legit.

Compared to the other rookie QBs, Lance had one huge play on some bad defense, but did nothing otherwise. Fields QB'd 3x scoring drives. Wilson was ok and Lawrence was ok.

If you compared those 4, Fields was clearly the best and most poised. It will be hard for Dalton to hold him off.

[BearFan PHX]

17 minutes ago, adam said:

He made the game slower

It really did feel that way, and i think youre right, that is a very telling sign.

[BearFan2000]

His first two possessions he was put in rough spots one drive killed by penalties backing them up to their own goal line forcing a 3rd down play that essentially just gave the punter more room.  Did we ever start a drive from the 25?  Seemed like we always tried returning the kick and never reaching the 20, I could be wrong but I don't recall good starting field position other than after a Miami punt.  I felt like the play calling was a bit conservative at first perhaps playing it safe to allow Fields to get his feet wet.   I like that he drove us down for a FG at the end of the fist half with less than a min to work with.  And carried that momentum forward into the second half.  It's one preseason game and it's early in his career, there will be mistakes, but he lead the Bears to 17 points through about 2 quarters of play.  I won't put him in the HOF yet, but contrast his first outing to Mitches first outing and Fields inspires a lot more confidence going forward.  It's different for us to expect great things from our rookie QB rather than praying our rookie QB doesn't suck.  I'm hoping he turns out to be the steal of the 2021 draft.

I saw the calmness that he's been known for even when things didn't go well on his first two possessions.  You saw a calm poise, his accuracy was on display and he didn't get rattled.  I saw a QB that can make things happen when a play breaks down.  It's going to be hard to defend him.  One play that stood out to me was when he took off like he was going to run, causing the DB to leave his man, and he stops and drops the ball right into the receiver that was open because the DB had to respect his ability to run.  That will be dangerous and it all looks so effortless with Justin.  This kid may just save Naggy's and Pace's jobs

[Alaskan Grizzly]

…and if you watch some of the other rookie QB highlights from this last weekend, he easily outperformed all of them.  Or at least most (I didn’t see Mac Jones’ debut and heard he did well).  But without defending my bias, he legitimately did make the game look much more comfortable for him than did his peers.  A lot of the other guys were doing simple ‘football 101’ plays where Fields looked ready to move to the next level halfway through his game.  

[Stinger226]

Two things I liked. He was never panicked by what was happening, handled all of it. AND he has very good speed. 

[BearFan PHX]

2 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

Two things I liked. He was never panicked by what was happening, handled all of it. AND he has very good speed. 

agree, and his ball placement was dead on on every throw. early on the WRs didnt make the catches and use their bodies right ont he slants, but JF put the ball where it belonged. He looks like a QB.

[BearFan2000]

14 hours ago, BearFan NYC said:

agree, and his ball placement was dead on on every throw. early on the WRs didnt make the catches and use their bodies right ont he slants, but JF put the ball where it belonged. He looks like a QB.

I think he had one or two balls that sailed on him a little.  One he was probably just throwing it away towards the sideline, the other was just a little off but I'll take that in a heartbeat compared to how accurate the rest of his throws were, not only on target but placing the ball where his receivers can actually do something with it after the catch.  Air ball Mitch couldn't hit the broad side of a barn if it wasn't 10 yards or less.  I watched some highlights from the Bills preseason game and his ball placement is still an issue, receivers are having to bail him out on catches.  It's so refreshing seeing a Bears QB able to do the things that Justin can do, and he makes it look effortless.  And he's showing these things in his first preseason game action with backup receivers, and patchwork line.  Defenses are going to have to play coverage and have to utilize QB spys.  I'm sure they will try to blizt him, but the trick becomes maintaining contain with his speed and elusiveness.  

[BearFan PHX]

5 minutes ago, BearFan2000 said:

I think he had one or two balls that sailed on him a little.  One he was probably just throwing it away towards the sideline, the other was just a little off but I'll take that in a heartbeat compared to how accurate the rest of his throws were, not only on target but placing the ball where his receivers can actually do something with it after the catch.  Air ball Mitch couldn't hit the broad side of a barn if it wasn't 10 yards or less.  I watched some highlights from the Bills preseason game and his ball placement is still an issue, receivers are having to bail him out on catches.  It's so refreshing seeing a Bears QB able to do the things that Justin can do, and he makes it look effortless.  And he's showing these things in his first preseason game action with backup receivers, and patchwork line.  Defenses are going to have to play coverage and have to utilize QB spys.  I'm sure they will try to blizt him, but the trick becomes maintaining contain with his speed and elusiveness.  

with a good running back roster, and speed at the WRs and Fields a legit threat to run or throw, we should be very hard to defend. Now we will truly see if Nagy can call plays in rhythm.