It felt like Bears quarterback Justin Fields took on the best team the NFC on Sunday by himself. And he almost pulled it off.
With little help from an offense ravaged by injuries, Fields kept the Bears close against the one-loss Eagles for most of Sunday’s game at Soldier Field. The final score — 25-20 — was only decided when the Eagles converted a third-and-6 with two minutes to play.
Fields played most of Sunday’s game without four of his top six wide receivers. Darnell Mooney was out for the season with an ankle injury, Chase Claypool was ruled out Friday with a knee problem and N’Keal Harry was scratched Sunday because of a bad back. Equanimeous St. Brown was concussed after catching a third-down pass in the first quarter Sunday and was ruled out.
Guard Teven Jenkins was put on a backboard and carted off with a neck injury early in the first quarter, too.
That left Fields to take matters into his own hands.
Fields reached two milestones Sunday, setting the Bears’ all-time single-season rushing record for a quarterback and becoming the third quarterback in NFL history to run for 1,000 yards.
On second-and-27 in the second quarter, Fields ducked out of a sack, danced through the pocket and sprinted up the left sideline. He ran all the way into the south end zone, but officials ruled he stepped out of bounds. David Montgomery ran for a nine-yard touchdown on the next play.
Montgomery caught a touchdown, too, in the third quarter. Three plays after Eagles running back Miles Sanders fumbled the ball away to rookie cornerback Kyler Gordon, Fields found Montgomery in the flat on a third-and-5 blitz for a 10-yard touchdown.
The Bears trailed by four midway through the fourth quarter when Fields left the field after a scramble that was negated by a holding penalty. He was stretched on the sideline and then walked to the Bears locker room, presumably for IV fluids to help combat cramping.
He returned before the Bears got the ball back — but by that point Jalen Hurts had run a quarterback sneak from the 1 to go up 12 with 4:25 to play.
Fields brought the Bears back within five when he scrambled right and found Byron Pringle wide open for a 25-yard score with 2:52 to play.
The Bears tried an onside kick that failed. The Eagles then converted on third-and-6 when Hurts found star receiver A.J. Brown on a slant.
Fields ran 15 times for 95 yards and completed 14 of 21 passes for 152 yards and a 119.5 passer rating.
