Justin Fields' career day not enough to secure first win
Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields had his best game of his professional career in Week 4 against the Denver Broncos, but it still wasn't enough to snap the league's longest active losing streak. The Bears are now 0-4 to start the season and all but squandered their best opportunity to secure a win this season. […]
Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields had his best game of his professional career in Week 4 against the Denver Broncos, but it still wasn't enough to snap the league's longest active losing streak.
The Bears are now 0-4 to start the season and all but squandered their best opportunity to secure a win this season. The Broncos ranked last or near last in every defensive category but the Bears just couldn't contain the lead.
Chicago entered the 4th quarter with a 93% chance to win according to Next Gen Stats. Then, the team allowed 17 unanswered points in the final quarter of regulation, resulting in yet another disappointing loss.
Fields finished the game 28/35 passing for a career high 335 passing yards and four passing touchdowns. It was his first ever career game with 300+ passing yards and 4+ passing touchdowns in the NFL.
The Bears entered halftime with a 14-point lead after scoring three touchdowns in the second quarter. Fields started the game with a franchise record 16 consecutive completions and his only first-half incompletion came on a failed hail mary attempt before the end of the second quarter.
Two of the three passing touchdowns in the first-half went for over 20 yards, as the Bears took advantage of the Broncos weak secondary. Wide receiver DJ Moore hauled in a ridiculous 29-yard catch in the front corner of the endzone and tight end Cole Kmet was left wide open for a 22-yard rope.
The Bears aerial assault, however, seemed to have slowed down in the second-half, thus gifting the Broncos an opportunity to mount a comeback.
After a two-yard touchdown run by Khalil Herbert, the Bears didn't sniff the endzone for the remainder of the game. The Broncos started a scoring frenzy of their own and finally got the opportunity to take the lead after the Bears failed to covert a 4th-and-one with nearly three minutes left to play.
Fields backed up the decision while talking to the media after the game and expressed his appreciation for head coach Matt Eberflus trusting in his offense to make a play.
"I love the decision, it shows coach has trust in us to convert in that situation," Fields said. "We just got to execute. There was a missed block on the backside and that's why somebody was able to sneak through and tackle Khalil [Herbert]. In that situation, it's a tough spot, but, as a player, you want your head coach to be able to trust you in that situation."
The Broncos capitalized on the stop, marched down the field and hit a 51-yard field goal to take a 31-28 lead with 1:46 remaining on the clock. Fields had an opportunity to mound a game-winning drive but was intercepted on a third-and-13 play.
"I gotta be better in that situation and we just got to finish," Fields added.
Chicago fans should still be proud of the fight the Bears showed on Sunday, even though the outcome wasn't favorable. The Bears offense finally seems to be clicking on all cylinders outside of a few costly mistakes. The defense, however, has quickly become the Bears biggest problem left to be resolved in 2023.
