Justin Fields has been nothing short of phenomenal the past several weeks. He's an absolute game-changer who, while having ups and downs, will likely only get better. He's the true dynamic athlete Bears fans have so desperately pined for for so long.
That said, we are seeing a underwhelming output of actual passing yards. 123 yards last week. 167 yards yesterday. He hasn't broken 200 yards in 6 games (Oct. 9 @ Vikings - 208).
I do not believe this is reason for concern, for a few reasons:
1) The offense is scoring points and moving the ball. The way the Bears are moving the ball down the field, leaning heavily on Fields' legs while also mixing in his arm and their RB running game, is working. The offense looks fluid and fun to watch. They're getting first downs. They're scoring points.
2) You almost need to just combine Fields' rushing yards & passing yards to get the full picture of his impact. Rushing for 40 yards out of an 80-yard drive means 40 yards that you don't have to net out of the air. If they can't stop you on the ground, why wouldn't you run? And does it matter whether those 40 came on the ground or through the air, as long as you get them? In this way, the low passing yardage total is in **direct correlation** to Fields' high rushing yard totals. If he didn't rush for as many yards, at least many of those would be passing yards. So it's his total yardage that should be the outlook we pay most attention to. I'm not going to complain about 300+ yards per game combined passing and rushing.
3) Fields is not a finished product. He will continue to work and continue to get better. As he does, those passing yard totals will come up, and we'll laugh about the times we were worried about 150-yard passing games.
4) USE YOUR EYES - The biggest reason I'm not concerned about the lack of passing yard output is that you can tell by looking at Fields that he's not a running QB who can't throw, or who is *always* looking to take off. We've seen those dime throws. We've seen that once he starts scrambling, he keeps his eyes downfield. We've seen that if he sees an open receiver while scrambling, he'll toss it to them for a 15-20 yard gain rather than just run it for 8 yards. The ability and willingness to throw are still there.
The uniqueness of Justin Fields requires a unique viewpoint when watching him work. Embrace that differentness. Embrace that we're seeing Fields be Fields. We're seeing what he can do when he has the freedom to be dynamic in his own way. We'll see up-games and down-games, but ladies and gentlemen, he's only going to get better.
This is going to be fun to watch.
www.espn.com
