How Bears plan to fix Fields, pass game after Texans game originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Justin Fields was bad Sunday in the Bears' 23-20 win over the Houston Texans at Soldier Field. The second-year quarterback admitted as much, calling his performance "terrible" and "trash."
There's no reason to dance around the myriad issues plaguing the Bears' rickety passing game. Fields is at the center of the consternation. It wasn't just that he threw two atrocious interceptions Sunday against a bad pass defense. It was that he missed numerous open receivers, the footwork looked sloppy, and the Bears took the ball out of his hands in crucial situations.
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Fields vowed to be better Sunday, taking full responsibility for his play and the passing game's struggles.
The Bears need Fields to bounce back in Week 4 against the New York Giants. That starts with returning to something they spent all offseason working to improve.
"I would just say keep on working on his footwork," head coach Matt Eberflus said Monday. "The footwork and then the timing, the timing of it when the ball is out of his hands. A lot of that is the pocket, too, at times, when we were looking at the film. So we got to make sure we have a clean pocket for him to ride the pocket up and then deliver the ball."
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Fields' footwork was not good against the Texans. He got out of rhythm on his first interception Sunday when he sailed a ball over and wide of an open Cole Kmet.
The Bears spent all offseason talking about Fields' improved footwork, mechanics, and timing. That didn't show up Sunday against the Texans.
But is it cause for concern that Fields might be regressing?
"No, I don't think that's true. I just think that we need more consistency on it," Eberflus said of Fields' footwork. "He's getting better at that. He's getting better at that. And again, that breaks down sometimes when the protection breaks down, which in every game, the protection does break down on both sides. So, that was some of it."
Fields is the headliner for the struggles of the Bears' passing game. But it's not like the rest of the operation has been crisp.
The protection has been far from perfect. Some of that is on the offensive line, and some is on Fields for holding onto the ball too long and not having the necessary pocket presence to know when it's time to bail. The receivers have struggled to create separation. When they have, Fields has often missed them or failed to pull the trigger on a throw to the open man.
In short, the entire passing game operation has been dreadful.
Eberflus, however, sees things a different way.
"I would say it's individual," Eberflus said of the passing game breakdowns. "You're always searching for consistent, sustained execution. It's a fancy way of saying execute one play at a time. That's what we're searching for. When you get those plays, what it does is it puts you behind.
"Certainly when you have first down -- fiirst down efficiency is always big on both sides of the ball for us, so we've got to make sure we're clean in that regard so we're ahead of the sticks."
Everyone on the unit needs to be better to get the passing game going. But it starts with Fields.
You can ignore the Week 1 game played in the rain at Soldier Field. You can overlook the 7-for-11 for 70 yards in Green Bay. But it's clear Fields isn't comfortable or confident right now.
The Bears know that finding a way to help him settle in will be important going forward.
"We're always looking for that," Eberflus said. "We're always looking to make him comfortable and get some things going for him to make him feel like he's comfortable in that game plan and have early success. You're always trying to search for that for sure and we're going to search for that this week, too."
Eberflus quickly noted that the Bears scored on their first two possessions against the Texans. That success was primarily based on the run game, as Fields started the game 2-for-6 for 16 yards.
That speaks to Eberflus' big dilemma – balancing the development of Fields with doing what he needs to win the game.
"You always look at that, but it's always going to be the win first," Eberflus said. "We're doing everything we can to win the game. That's the most important thing. What's the style we would have to play to win that particular game. And it changes. It changes week to week. This week, we were in a mode where it was a style that we had to play to win the game, and it came out on the right end."
RELATED: Fields, Bears at risk of speeding toward perilous crossroads
Fixing the Bears' passing offense has to be priority No. 1 this week. Through three games, the Bears rank last in passing yards, completion percentage, first downs, passer rating, and attempts. They rank second-to-last in touchdown passes and have given up the fifth most sacks.
Dreadful stuff.
There's plenty of blame to go around.
The play-calling needs to get more creative. The Bears brought in offensive coordinator Luke Getsy to design a system tailored to Fields' strengths that would allow him to succeed while developing. So far, the Bears' pass game has been simple and lacked uninventive. That has to change.
But the bottom line is the Bears need Fields to play up to the level his talent suggests. The footwork, timing, and decision-making simply have to improve. It's on the Bears to help him get there.
Having a passing game this ineffective isn't sustainable in the modern NFL. Either Fields and the Bears fix it, or things will start to spiral out of control quickly.
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