Chicago Bears tight end Cole Kmet explained what happened on the final offensive play of the day that resulted in a Justin Fields interception. And it doesn’t paint the Bears third-year quarterback in a good light.
Fields had one of his best passing games statistically. Fields was 28/25 for 335 yards passing and four touchdowns. However, his lone interception Sunday was a backbreaker for the Bears.
According to a report by Brad Biggs with the Chicago Tribune, Kmet said he ran his route based on the defensive matchup. The Broncos were in man coverage. Kmet said Fields read zone coverage.
Chicago Bears: Cole Kmet ran the correct route
After the game, Biggs asked Broncos players what the defensive scheme was. It was man, which Fields owned up to in his press conference:
“He had read zone,” Kmet said. “I had read more man match where the safety was carrying me, so I decided to whip. Justin thought I was going to sit. So, when I whipped out, (Jackson) was in the spot that I would have been at if I had read it a zone.”
In the Denver locker room, multiple players told me the Broncos were in Cover One on the play. That is man coverage.
“All in all it’s my fault,” Fields said. “Against man coverage, (Kmet) is supposed to do what he did. I wanted him to just play football and kind of sit down in space. That’s why I threw it to a spot how I did. It was really a miscommunication.”
It’s not really a miscommunication as much as a misread by Fields. It wasn’t his only bad play of the afternoon.
Fields had a fumble returned for a touchdown that tied the game at 28-28. Per Biggs, Fields excused his fumble by saying he couldn’t do anything else because the rule on that play is not to take a sack :
“It’s tough because the rule on boots, nakeds, is no sack. So in that situation, of course you’d rather have a sack than a fumble scoop and score for a touchdown. I turned around, he was right there.
I don’t know if I can really do anything on that one to be honest with you. I just tried to get the ball out and I don’t know what the down and distance was on that play but just make an incomplete pass and move on to the next play.”
LOL .
Justin Fields didn’t lose the game, but that doesn’t matter
Fields wasn’t the reason the Bears lost the game. The Bears’ defense, especially the coaching and front office, were responsible for Sunday’s defeat. They’re accountable for the 0-4 start.
However, the Bears didn’t win the game because of Fields. And that’s the problem with Fields at this point. Fields needs to close out a game up 21 points against what is quickly becoming a historically bad defense in Denver.
Do the Bears really want to extend Fields to a contract around what Daniel Jones is getting with the New York Giants? All that money will take away from the pieces on offense and defense that Fields needs to succeed.
Not necessarily because Fields loses, but because he can’t win games.
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