The Chicago Bears are proving the “experts” wrong so far this season. However, there is much to be worried about, especially what is happening to Justin Fields.
The Chicago Bears escaped with a thrilling 23-20 victory over the Houston Texans on Sunday. It was their second victory in three games this season. That is notable because the consensus among most of the so-called “experts” around the NFL gave Chicago a maximum total of three wins all season.
We should be happy that the Bears have two wins already and are in a three-way tie (God bless those Detroit Lions) atop the NFC North. However, all is not well in Chicago Bears Nation.
The season has been an ugly one despite the winning record. They haven’t been able to even be mediocre in the passing game. It has been a total disaster. Quarterback Justin Fields is getting pressured on about 43 percent of his dropbacks, easily the most in the league. It’s been so bad that even when he does have the time, he rushes his throws because he hears footsteps that really aren’t there.
The receivers have not been able to get themselves open nearly enough times. It seems that they are covered by a secondary filled with Deion Sanders-type players.
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Going into the game, the Bears ranked dead last in passing attempts, completions, and passing yards. They have the second-fewest touchdown passes only because as of this writing, the Dallas Cowboys haven’t played their third game yet.
The running game is excellent
One saving grace is the running game. After David Montgomery put up 122 rushing yards against the Green Bay Packers in Week 2, Khalil Herbert put up 158 of his own against the Texans.
The Chicago Bears are second in the league in rushing yards. Also, they have the third-most rushing touchdowns.
It would be horrible to think where the Bears would be if the running game isn’t doing what it’s currently doing.
Of course, there are clouds there as well. Montgomery hurt his knee and ankle early on in the game. With his ability to catch passes out of the backfield, what happens if he is out for an extended period of time?
We saw Herbert fill in admirably when Montgomery missed four weeks with a knee injury last season. Then we saw him do it again on Sunday. The running game is in good hands with Herbert.
The Bears say Montgomery is day-to-day (aren’t we all?). They do not seem to think it is a serious injury.
What is happening to Fields is criminal
The running game was critical to helping Fields in his development. With the opposing defense having to account for the running game, Fields should have more room to throw passes.
That has not happened so far this season, though. As mentioned earlier, the offensive line is as bad as it has ever been. Against the Texans, the unit allowed five sacks. For the season, they have given up the fourth-most sacks in the league. They are on pace to give up 57 sacks this season. That is just one less than last season. I guess that is some kind of improvement, no?
All jokes aside, what is happening to Fields is frustrating and concerning. General manager Ryan Poles did a good job of clearing salary cap space for 2023. The Bears have about $115 million in cap space, far and away the most in the NFL. The New England Patriots are second but their space is $63 million.
Poles has set up the team to be major players in free agency next offseason, but at what cost? He cleared up that much space by cutting veteran contracts and signing bargain-basement players. Some of these players were second, third, or even fourth-stringers. They hadn’t done much so far in their careers but now are counted on to be key players on this team.
In the meantime, Fields, whose development should be of the utmost concern, is running for his life and not finding very many open receivers. His two top targets should be Darnell Mooney and Cole Kmet. These are players he spent the summer working with to improve. So far, however, they have totaled six catches combined.
Montgomery, who missed nearly all of the Texans game, still leads the team in catches with five. Herbert now has four. Equanimeous St. Brown has 77 receiving yards, the most. Byron Pringle, who had some success last season with Patrick Mahomes, so far has two catches for 33 yards. Dante Pettis has 51 yards but that was on just one catch.
Not getting the protection he needs to throw passes on top of not having receivers who can get open is a recipe for disaster. That is exactly what is happening. We see Fields running around avoiding a pummeling.
It has not worked.
There was a televised shot of Fields on the bench after a drive late in the game (before Roquan Smith made his incredible interception). He looked beat up and exhausted. After the camera pulled away from him, the announcers said that he went into the medical tent. He looked as bad as we’ve seen him since he came to Chicago.
Poles put all his eggs into the 2023 free agency basket. In the meanwhile, Fields will get beaten up and might not make it through the season.
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