The Chicago Bears’ offense is an unmitigated disaster through the first two weeks of the NFL season. That’s no surprise, and we at Touchdown Wire have already detailed the issues with the passing and quarterback run game designed by offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, and executed by quarterback Justin Fields, and Fields’ candid response to the whole thing.
In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” Greg (of NFL Films and ESPN’s NFL Matchup) and Doug (of Touchdown Wire) go deeper into the larger discussion: When you have a quarterback whose athleticism is his most dominant trait, how do you move to the more advanced requirements of the position without causing paralysis by analysis? And why wouldn’t Getsy want to call more designed runs out of more different packages to take advantage of what Hurts does well — say, like what Shane Steichen is doing for Anthony Richardson this season, and what he did for Jalen Hurts last season?
“Now, we get into a larger discussion of quarterback play in the league,” Greg said. “There’s no question that there are more and more quarterbacks — like Richardson, theoretically Fields, Hurts falls into this category — who have running ability, and you would like to be able to use and deploy that running ability. The question is, how much do you want to do that, and at what point does a quarterback have to become an efficient pocket player?
“‘Efficient’ is a relative term. My guess is, even if Justin Fields progresses in the ways we hope he does so that be can become a good player, he’s not going to reach the level of Tom Brady or Drew Brees. And maybe he doesn’t need to — he probably doesn’t. But where’s the balance there? How do you teach a guy to play from the pocket, which you have to do in this league, if you’re not working on the traits and details that lead to that kind of efficiency?”
Because it’s not as if Getsy isn’t dialing certain things up for Fields that shouldn’t ostensibly work, and do work in most offenses. One of Fields’ sacks came on this play with 3:12 left in the first half. Running back Roschon Johnson ran up the seam, and both Johnson and receiver Tyler Scott were open to Fields’ front side. Why Fields didn’t pull the trigger here is hard to say.
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