One of the more interesting statistics through the first six weeks of the 2022 NFL season had to do with which quarterbacks were most often used, and which quarterbacks were most often effective, as weapons on designed run plays. Taking scrambles and quarterback sneaks out of the equation; we’re talking only about plays in which the whole idea was for the quarterback to run the ball in some sort of schemed construct
Per Sports Info Solutions, Jalen Hurts led all quarterbacks with 42 designed runs for 124 yards and three touchdowns through the first six weeks of the season. Not a huge surprise. Nor was it a shock that Lamar Jackson ranked second with 39 designed runs for 320 yards and two touchdowns. After that, it was Kyler Murray with 26 designed runs for 144 yards and a touchdown, Marcus Mariota with 26 for 95 yards and two touchdowns, Daniel Jones with 22 for 62 yards, and Josh Allen with 22 for 49 yards and one touchdown.
Ranking seventh? There was Justin Fields, with 20 designed runs… for 15 yards.
Given Fields’ incandescent abilities as a pure runner, you almost have to go out of your way to present inhospitable opportunities for him in that capacity. And through the first six weeks of the season, the Bears and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy certainly did their worst. Instead of designing concepts that would work in his favor, the idea seemed to be to let Fields use his legs only if the play broke down. That’s why Fields led the league in scrambles by far through the first six weeks of the season — he had 38 for 261 yards and a touchdown. Josh Allen finished second with 25 scrambles for 205 yards and a touchdown. Fields’ 136 yards gained after contact should have been a clue to Getsy and head coach Matt Eberflus.
It would appear that the mini-bye given to the Bears following their Week 6 Thursday night loss to the Commanders gave the coaches some extra time in the film room, and when it was time for the Bears to face the Patriots on Monday night, there was a plan in place that had not been there before. In Chicago’s 33-14 win over New England, Fields led all quarterbacks in Week 7 with 11 designed runs for 60 yards and a touchdown. His Positive Play Rate on designed runs shot up from 15% in Weeks 1-6 to 54.5% in Week 7.
“Yeah. I think that creates an issue sometimes for the defense,” Eberflus said after the game. “Depending what defense they’re in, certainly when you have a quarterback that can – has the designed runs with the run pass off of it, you know, and then also doing some things have the ability to scramble and make first downs. I think that’s a big piece. And it’s hard to defend those guys. And we’ve all seen them around the league. And Justin did a nice job of executing today.”
Let’s give the Bears’ coaches some credit for finally figuring out what they should have figured out weeks ago, and what former head coach Matt Nagy never did: You can build your offense to a point around Justin Fields as a run threat, just as the Eagles have done with Hurts, the Bills have done with Allen, the Falcons have done with Mariota, and the Ravens have certainly done with Jackson.
How did it look, and how did it work? Let’s go to the tape.