Fans of the Chicago Bears have every right to be suspicious about Justin Fields since his Year 1 tape was underwhelming given his hype.
In general, Justin Fields was widely regarded as a better pick than New England Patriots rookie Mac Jones among the top five quarterbacks selected in the 2021 NFL Draft.
On the other hand, Jones would prove to be the better NFL quarterback in Year 1, unseating previous starter Cam Newton and leading the Patriots to a historic seven-game winning streak before falling to the Buffalo Bills in the playoffs.
Nonetheless, the Patriots were superior to the 6-11 Chicago Bears, who picked Fields as their starting quarterback on Oct. 6, 2021.
Fields only managed to win two of the ten games in which he started, and aside from a 20-9 triumph against the Las Vegas Raiders, he only managed to beat one of the NFL’s worst teams for the rest of the season: the Detroit Lions.
While the “Fire Nagy” chants helped the Bears fire head coach Matt Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace, the team’s quarterback situation remains a concern in Year 2.
Mark Carman and Patrick Schmidt of FanSided commiserated with each other as they talked about Fields’ season in a very open way.
@thecarm #bears #chicago #football ##nfl #quarterback #justinfields #beardown ♬ Bear Down, Chicago Bears – The Polar Bear Singers
I’ve seen every Justin Fields game—I’ve seen every Bears game for more than a decade—but looking back at the data, it seems worse than it did at the time, and I’m almost thinking, ‘Did I overvalue him in the moment?'” Carman pondered this.
I mean, 2-8 with seven touchdowns and ten interceptions and a completion rate of sub 60%?
Carman stated, “By the numbers, he was terrible.” “All I remember is the Pittsburgh game, where he was flying around and they should have won, but in actuality, the dude was terrible.”
Justin Fields has been a disappointment for Bears fans thus far
Despite the fact that Fields didn’t have as awful a year as New York Jets rookie Zach Wilson or Jacksonville Jaguars rookie Trevor Lawrence, Bears fans only saw flashes and glimpses of Fields’ potential during the draft, rather than the steady exhibition they hoped for.
Schmidt stated, “There are clearly glances and flashes.” “In Year 2, you want more continuous peeks and flashes, not like Halley’s Comet flashing through the sky.”
Jackson Krueger, an NFL film analyst and YouTuber, agreed with Carman and Schmidt. However, he was excited about Fields’ chances in Chicago.
“You’re not seeing greater consistency,” Krueger said, “but you’re seeing more flashes, which is what you want to see.”
“You hope for the high highs first, and then you hope for the steadiness to follow… As Krueger stated of Fields’ game against the Green Bay Packers, “I know the numbers weren’t terrific, but I thought the film was actually a lot better.”
