If anyone had any doubt that Justin Fields was ready for the big show then Sunday’s performance against the Miami Dolphins should have erased any doubt. It was a historic day for Fields as he rushed for 178 yards, the most by any quarterback in NFL history. He also became the first QB since 1950 to rush for over 150 yards while throwing 3 TD passes. Fields finished his day 17/28 for 123 yards and 3 TDs in the air while getting 15 rushes for 178 yards including that “did you see that?” 61 yard TD run. So impressive was Justin Fields, at one point, the Dolphins’ head coach Mike McDaniel yelled at Justin to “stop it”. Credit to the Bears’ coaching staff for using the last 3 weeks to build their offense around Fields’ talents and skills. Despite Justin Fields’ electric performance, the Bears wound up on the losing end of a wildly entertaining 35-32 loss.
The story of this game was clearly the way Justin Fields ran the offense. Fields found 6 different receivers on Sunday including TE Cole Kmet who had his best game of the season. Kmet had 5 catches for 41 yards and 2 TDs. He was used as a redzone threat and Fields found him twice for touchdowns. Fields’ 2nd best throw of the day was a pretty, over the shoulder pass to Darnell Mooney for the other TD. It was also the debut of Chase Claypool in a Bears uniform. In limited action Claypool had 2 catches for 13 yards. He also drew a PI call early on the Bears’ 1st drive that lead to a FG score. As Claypool gets more acclimated to the Bears’ playbook expect him to make an even bigger impact.
As dazzling as the offense was on Sunday it was just as deflating of a showing defensively. The Dolphins only rushed for 77 yards but that’s because they were able to get whatever they wanted through the air. Tua Tagovailoa decimated the Bears’ secondary for 302 yards and 3 TDs through the air. Tyreek Hill ran circles around whoever was matched up against him while racking up 7 catches for 143 yards and a TD. Miami lost the time of possession battle but that was because the Dolphins were able to score with ease. The Dolphins had 4 75-yard drives that lasted 3:30, 4:13, 2:13 and 5:18. They also blocked a punt and returned it for a TD.
The Good: Justin Fields. History making performance. The Bears have their franchise QB. The naysayers of Justin Fields’ skills and ability to be a franchise QB have been silenced. Enough said.
The Bad: The defense had an awful go of it for most of the game. The defense gave up 7.2 yards per play and an astonishing 10.1 yards per pass play. The Bears had no tackles for loss, no sacks and only 2 pass deflections. This is going to be a continuing theme as long as this front seven gets as little pressure as they did on Sunday.
The Ugly: I’m not one to complain about officiating but Sunday had some calls and non-calls that were head scratching. On the second to last drive for the Dolphins, the one time the Bears got pressure on Tua who threw the ball into the ground. It looked as though it were intentional grounding but the refs picked up the flag. On the very next play Eddie Jackson was called for a questionable PI call when it looked as though both players were looking for the ball. The Bears were able to keep the Dolphins from scoring. On the Bears’ last drive Fields looked for Claypool deep on a 3rd & 10. Claypool was sandwiched between two people yet no PI call was made. The Bears’ last chance was thwarted when the best Justin Fields pass of the afternoon went through the hands of Equanimeous St. Brown. There was no excuse for St. Brown to not make that catch. None.
Next Up: The Detroit Lions will visit Soldier Field on Sunday.
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