Contrary to popular belief given the panic amongst fans, the Chicago Bears found themselves with a victory on Sunday, defeating the Houston Texans 23-20 on a last-second field goal by Cairo Santos to improve to 2-1 on the season. Thanks to a devastating ground attack led by Khalil Herbert, Chicago did just enough to squeak by the winless Texans and defeat former head coach Lovie Smith for the third time since he was let go 10 years ago.
The victory felt hollow, however, as the Bears passing offense continued to sputter with just 82 net yards and questions surrounding Justin Fields’ ability to succeed grew louder and louder. The same could be said for a number of Bears defensive players as well, though they clamped down on the Texans offense and made clutch plays to give the offense a fighting chance late in the game.
It was a weird game, with many writing off Fields and ignoring the victory while others continue to preach patience for his development during their celebration of the win. Want to know where we stand? Here are our takeaway’s from Sunday’s win over the Texans.
1
Justin Fields is regressing
Through three games of the year, it’s clear that Justin Fields isn’t developing at the rate many expected. But the more concerning thing is it appears he’s not only stalled in his development, but that he’s regressing. The stats don’t tell the full story but for reference, Fields went 8-of-17 for 106 yards with two picks. Looking outside of the stats, however, this is a quarterback who rarely looked comfortable in the pocket, despite decent protection for much of the game. Fields failed to anticipate throws, held onto the ball for too long, was inaccurate, and seemed too indecisive overall. Even when he does get the ball, many of his passes seem high for his receivers that lead to tough catches or drops altogether.
Some of those deficiencies are areas he’s needed to work on dating back to his rookie season. But they look more frequent and worse this year in a new offense. It’s perplexing given how he seemed to make strides in each preseason game by playing with more feel. Even though those games don’t count and they were against benchwarmers, some of that success should have carried over into the regular season. Even his second half against the San Francisco 49ers looked sharp in a monsoon. Now, it appears he’s thinking instead of playing. It’s gotten worse in each game since that opening week. It can’t keep going downhill, can it?
2
Fields still deserves the entire season to be evaluated
With all that being said about Fields’ regression, it’s still too early to write him off. He’s in a new offense in just his 15th start, playing the most difficult position in professional sports. For those keeping track at home, that’s not even a full year of games under his belt. No matter what happens over the next 15 weeks, Fields deserves to remain the starter and be given a fair evaluation when the season ends.
Much can change between late September and early December. This time last year, Joe Burrow was being questioned for his ability to lead the Cincinnati Bengals, Jalen Hurts was just seen as a good runner for the Philadelphia Eagles, and Tua Tagovailoa was about to be shipped out of town for Deshaun Watson for the Miami Dolphins. The point is that critiquing and pointing out flaws in Fields’ game doesn’t mean he should be written off entirely. But we need to see improvement in those areas sooner rather than later to know if he can be the team’s franchise quarterback. Otherwise, next year’s NFL Draft could get very interesting for the Bears.
3
The Bears coaches are playing to win, not develop.
With the Bears being 2-1, it’s become clear that the coaching staff is more worried about immediate gratification instead of properly developing their young quarterback. Last week’s commitment to the run game against Green Bay was a head scratcher, but understandable given the success they were having on the road. This week, the point became much clearer. Head coach Matt Eberflus and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy abandoned the passing attack late in the game to ensure Fields couldn’t cost them a victory.
This isn’t to say they’re out on Fields or don’t have faith in him. They’re just doing whatever it takes for a victory. For a team clinging to playoff hopes, this approach is completely understandable. For a team trying to determine what pieces they have on offense, it’s misguided. The Bears must learn what they have in Fields and that isn’t going to happen in practice. Let the young signal caller learn on the job. Get his confidence going by settling into a rhythm and don’t dial up five run plays in between passes.
Wins are nice and it’s always the objective of the game. But at this point, the Bears coaches should have enough leash to throw Fields into the water. If he sinks? It’s another glaring sign his problems aren’t getting better and may not be the guy. If he swims? You build the confidence of a young and potential franchise quarterback, which can pay dividends later in the year.
4
The Bears rushing offense is even more impressive than you think
Enough with the negative areas for a minute. Let’s celebrate the offensive production this team did end up having. The Bears’ rushing attack is becoming a problem for opponents and it doesn’t matter who is getting the majority of the carries. Last week, it was David Montgomery who imposed his will on the Green Bay Packers. This week, Khalil Herbert had the primary assignment with Montgomery leaving the game with an injury. Herbert had 157 yards rushing on 20 carries with two touchdowns. He was slicing through the Texans defense and couldn’t be stopped. It’s surprising given the fact the Bears had no passing attack whatsoever.
The Texans knew that the Bears were relying on their ground game and simply couldn’t stop it. Even when the game was taken out of Fields’ hands and it was clear the ball was going to Herbert, there was nothing they could do about it. The Bears are fourth in the league, averaging 5.4 yards per carry and they don’t have a passing offense that scares anyone. Imagine what this run unit could do if teams began respecting Fields and his arm. Hopefully that happens sooner rather than later.
5
Darnell Mooney's development has stalled
Fields isn’t the only young offensive player that’s struggling in 2022. His top pass catcher Darnell Mooney has been nearly invisible through three games and despite some improvement, Week 3 was much of the same. Mooney caught two passes on six targets for 23 yards on Sunday, a season high in both categories, sadly. He dropped two of those targets and just doesn’t seem to be on the same page as his quarterback, despite the two basically being inseparable this offseason.
Mooney isn’t a true WR1 but the thought prevailed that he could develop into one beginning this year. He’s taken strides during his first couple of seasons and seemed poised to at least match the totals he had in 2021. Instead, we have a player who only gets targeted with 10 yards of the line of scrimmage and is struggling to catch simple screen passes. The next game for the Bears will be in October and Mooney will have gone without topping 30 yards for the entire season in the year 2022. That’s unacceptable and while the other receiving options might have been suspect, Mooney should not be.
6
Sam Mustipher has no business starting at center anymore
Are we done with the Sam Mustipher experiment yet? It seems to have run its course, especially now that Lucas Patrick isn’t wearing a club on his hand when he’s on the field. It appeared Patrick would take back center duties this week when he was snapping to the quarterbacks for the first time since breaking his thumb two months ago in training camp. Mustipher was holding down his spot and Patrick rotated in at guard to get his feet wet over the first couple of games. So why isn’t he playing center now that he’s deemed healthy enough to ditch the club?
It’s the one area of the offensive line that isn’t making sense. The Bears continue to rotate right guards between Patrick and Teven Jenkins. Meanwhile, Mustipher is showing he isn’t capable of handling snaps consistently and is getting beat off the line far too many times. The whole plan needs to be scrapped, with Patrick taking back center duties and Jenkins returning to guard. Get your five best players on the line and leave it alone. We’re done with the tinkering.
7
Roquan Smith rebounded in a big way
Perhaps Roquan Smith just needed a preseason to shake some of the rust off. The star linebacker for the Bears has looked discombobulated through two games this year. He was late getting to ball carriers and seemed overmatched far too many times, something we haven’t really seen. Even dealing with a hip injury all week, Smith turned it all around with a performance we’ve come to expect from him. Smith led all defenders with 16 total tackles, six of which were solo and two went for a loss, one pass defensed and the game-sealing interception late in the fourth quarter that set up Santos’ kick. The 16 tackles are tied for second-most in his career, according to the Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs.
Smith saved the day at multiple points throughout the game. Prior to his interception, the linebacker stuffed Texans running back Dameon Pierce right at the goal line late in the third quarter. It was just the performance he, and the Bears defense, needed. Hopefully this week is a turning point for him and he can play at the level we’re accustomed to seeing when he takes the field next week. Let’s not jinx it, but it looks like No. 58 is finally back to his old self.
