Nothing comes easy with the Chicago Bears, even when nursing a 20-3 lead in the fourth quarter. Following a late rally by the Cincinnati Bengals — where they scored two touchdowns on consecutive drives — the Bears squeaked out a 20-17 victory over the Bengals for their first win of the season.
While Chicago’s defense dominated Cincinnati with four turnovers, including three consecutive interceptions of Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, the story of the game was Andy Dalton exiting the game with a knee injury, which forced rookie Justin Fields into the game for roughly three quarters of action.
Was Fields’ debut pretty? No. He had plenty of rookie mistakes that were expected, including some penalties and a rough interception that made things a little close at the end of the game. His final stat line was 6-of-13 for 60 yards and a pick. Although that’s a good example of how stats don’t always tell the whole story.
Fields also showed what he’s capable of as a dynamic athlete, including using his legs to pick up a first down on third-and-9 to seal the game. Fields wasn’t helped by his receivers, as there were a handful of passes that hit them right in the hands. The worst was a drop by Allen Robinson, who failed to haul in a touchdown pass from Fields in the end zone, where the ball went right through his hands.
That was to be expected given Fields never saw any reps with the starters during training camp or preseason. There were timing issues with receivers and cadence issues with the offensive line, things that have to be worked out through reps. Reps Fields never received before the start of the season.
There are going to be some growing pains with Fields, which is to be expected with rookies, but there’s no denying the future is bright for the young quarterback.
Whether the Bears decide to roll with Fields from here on out remains to be seen. But that would figure to be the best thing for the future of this franchise. But this is Matt Nagy we’re talking about.
But getting back to the defense…
The Bears defense was about as bad as you could get in last week’s opener against the Los Angeles Rams, where they allowed 34 points and made countless mistakes, including missed tackles, penalties and blown coverages.
They rebounded exactly as you’d hope against the Bengals, whose offense had a solid outing against the Minnesota Vikings just a week earlier. Before the final two Bengals possessions, they held Cincinnati to 3 points and were absolutely dominating.
Players like outside linebacker Khalil Mack, safety Eddie Jackson and linebacker Roquan Smith had big days following underwhelming or disappointing outings in Week 1.
At one point, the Bears defense forced three consecutive interceptions of Joe Burrow, which started with a pick-6 by Smith to extend Chicago’s lead to 17-3. It was Burrow’s first interception in 200 pass attempts, which was the longest active streak in the NFL. But it wasn’t his last of the game.
Cornerback Jaylon Johnson recorded his first interception of his career on the ensuing possession. On the Bengals’ following possession, linebacker Alec Ogletree got in Burrow’s face and forced an interception, which defensive lineman Angelo Blackson came down with.
The Bears will face the Cleveland Browns next week, which will be their next big test. As for who will be starting under center for Chicago, that will remain a hot topic throughout the week.