Whatever the reason, the Bears are calling a competent game for Justin Fields!

One week after one of the worst game plans you’ll ever see for a young quarterback, Justin Fields is help from his coaches.

Last week against the Browns, the Bears’ offense was an absolute disaster. Rookie quarterback Justin Fields, who started on short notice due to Andy Dalton’s injury status, walked into that game with no help whatsoever from head coach Matt Nagy and his offensive staff. The result was a 26-6 thrashing by the Browns, Fields completed six of 20 passes for 68 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions, nine sacks for 67 lost yards, and a quarterback rating of 41.2.

Nagy refused to help Fields with pre-snap motion, extra protection, designed runs, or under-center play-action despite the fact that Fields was primarily an under-center quarterback at Ohio State. It was one of the worst game plans you’ll ever see a coach and a staff put together for a young quarterback, and the blame rested entirely on Nagy’s shoulders.

How Matt Nagy failed Justin Fields

Fast-forward to Sunday’s game against the Lions, and the Bears actually scored on their opening drive with a 12-play, 75-yard drive that was run-heavy with David Montgomery, but had this 21-yard pass from Fields to receiver Darnell Mooney, and on this play, you saw a lot of what you’d like to see from the Bears’ offense with Fields in the game.

Here, you have pre-snap motion from tight end Cole Kmet, which not only gives Fields the indicator for zone defense, but also aligns Kmet as an extra in-line blocker. With extra time in the pocket, and Mooney running an over through Detroit’s zone, it’s pitch-and-catch for quarterback and target, even if Mooney has to elongate his reach to catch the ball.

There’s been a lot of speculation as to whether Nagy or offensive coordinator Bill Lazor would be calling plays against the Lions, and early on, it appears that Lazor is more in charge — which Bears fans have wanted for quite a while.

Whoever’s in charge now, it’s definitely working. On the Bears’ second drive, Fields hit Mooney for this 64-yard play.

This is not our first rodeo with the Bears, whose quarterbacks tend to look like Hall-of-Famers against the Lions, but Fields has the ability to make things better if he’s given half a chance.