All offseason, much of the conversation in Chicago has centered around how little the Bears did to improve the supporting cast around Justin Fields.
Jason Peters thought the offensive line needed to come together, which then summarily looked terrible in spurts in Seattle. Meanwhile, our Christian D’Andrea believes the Bears have the worst receiving corps in pro football. (And he’s probably not wrong.)
But things seemed to look more cohesive for Fields and the Bears against the Browns (-3.5) on Saturday night. Because, for once, the Chicago offense looked kind of competent. Dare anyone say they even looked like a professional attack!
It started with a Fields dime to Ryan Griffin and ballooned from there:
Justin Fields fits the TD throw between the CB and S. pic.twitter.com/RfCoj9AD4Q
— Billy M (@BillyM_91) August 27, 2022
My goodness, what a dart between coverage.
All told, after an early punt, the Fields Bears offense scored touchdowns on three of five first-half possessions. In the final exhibition before an essential season in his development starts, here’s how the second-year quarterback fared in particular. Warning — Your eyes might hurt from sparkling light:
Bears QB Justin Fields: 14-of-16 for 156 yards, 3 touchdowns, 0 INT and a passer rating of 146.9.
— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) August 28, 2022
Even in a preseason context where notable Browns like all-world pass rusher Myles Garrett didn’t play, just two incomplete passes and three passing scores in a dress rehearsal is impressive. It’s also a bit surprising coming from the Bears — given that poor supporting cast on paper.
There’s no guarantee that Fields and the Bears will transfer over this production to the real games — especially with other squads’ defenders all playing — but this might have been a promising and eye-opening step forward in Chicago.