'You're not Patrick Mahomes': Justin Fields could be a huge bust
Amazon "Thursday Night Football" analyst Ryan Fitzpatrick, a longtime NFL QB, had tough words for Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields after another inept performance from the Bears' offense in a 12-7 loss to Washington.
"You are not Peyton Manning. You're not Patrick Mahomes. You're not a pocket passer," said Fitzpatrick.
Fields misfired on a number of throws. In the second quarter on second-and-goal from the 3-yard line, he sailed a pass past tight end Ryan Griffin, an egregious misfire. The Bears would fail to score on the drive.
A Fields pass also deflected off defensive lineman Efe Obada's helmet and ended as an interception. Late in the game, the Bears failed to score on three plays after they had moved to the Commanders' 5-yard line.
Fields is off to a rough start in Chicago after being one of the best passers in college football at Ohio State, where he went 20-2 from 2019-2020.
There is a litany of reasons for Fields' struggles in Chicago. The offensive line is a mess, tied for first in sacks allowed at 23.
Per Pro Football Reference, the Bears' sack percentage is by far the worst in the league at 16.7 percent. To put that in context, the 6.7 percentage points that separate the Bears (No. 32) from the Giants (No. 31) is the same spread that separates the Giants from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (No. 4).
Per Pro Football Focus, Fields has been pressured on more dropbacks (50.3 percent) than he has had a clean pocket (49.7). It's hard to be a pocket passer when there is no pocket.
Through his first 16 starts, however, the evidence supporting the view that he is not a viable QB is mounting. He has a 4-12 record, going 222-for-385 for 2,739 yards and 11 touchdowns with 15 interceptions and 59 sacks.
Through Mahomes' first 16 starts, he went 383-for-580 for 5,097 yards and 50 touchdowns with 12 interceptions. He had a 12-4 record. Mahomes sat his rookie season behind former QB Alex Smith.
Manning started as a rookie and had a 3-13 record. He went 326-for-575 for 3,739 yards and 26 touchdowns with 28 interceptions.
The NFL rarely shows much patience with QBs. After trading up in the 2017 draft to select Mitchell Trubisky over Mahomes, the team moved up the in 2021 draft to choose Fields over QB Mac Jones. Jones led the Patriots to a playoff appearance a season ago.
Pressure will mount on Fields until he produces. The offensive line will not help relieve that pressure, but as we saw on Thursday, he must take advantage of the few occasions he has a chance to throw. He has not done that so far.
If there is no improvement, the Bears will be back to square one, a place that's starting to feel like home.
More must-reads: