What a way to take a rebounding, confidence building game and turn it into a joke. The Bears did what needed to be done and won against a still long lasting struggling franchise, the win is significant but what was more important was the changes made to the game plan so the Bears QB for the future could continue to grow at the position and boy did he show bright plays on this game featured by a new guidance in play calling and what will be an infamous memorable press conference that stained what was a good day.
Justin Fields had a very good performance even if the stats don't show it, more specifically it could be said that he had a performance not seen very often by a Bears QB. It's fair to say that Rex Grossman, Jay Cutler and Mitchell Trubisky could rip the ball but when was the last time a Bears fan felt whole at the end of a game when watching them throw deep, those were throws that gave head aches or heart attacks, Fields multiple +20yd throws almost all of them where on the money except for his fist one where Darnell Mooney made an incredible one handed catch. The difference in defensive talent between the Lions and Browns was obvious, even so this game plan wasn't taking any chances, it didn't force Fields outside but counted on max protections with a lot of chip blocks from the TE and RB mixed with two or three TE sets to give Fields time to look deep or help push the line for David Montgomery who had a monster game and helped Fields have a cleaner pocket when using Play Action.
Upside players: Justin Fields of course, he threw some dimes that just put a smile on my face but even better is that most of the throws made the receiver keep running for extra yards which is huge when you have a group of speedy receivers. David Montgomery is a menase to any team which makes his injury very unfortunate, only good thing is that it will not keep him out for the season. Allen Robinson and Mooney have to be feeling excited and dangerous with what Fields showed on this game, it's time for them to stretch the field.
Downside players: Marquise Goodwin and Jimmy Graham just because they didn't show up but i'll keep patient.
The defense struggled against the run and didn't have the most cleanest game giving the Lions offense extra life and possibly could have made it into a close game but they tighten up on the red zone stopping a pair of 4th down tries and a pair of turnovers as well, enough for the Bears offense to close the deal. For one more game the Bears defense survives another game where a better QB could have gotten the best of them not counting on the ones that the Lions did take advantage by finding some blown assignments down field, still Sean Desai is doing a very good job with the front seven creating opportunities to get to the QB and helping his shaky secondary.
Upside players: Robert Quinn and Alec Ogletree probably made Ryan Pace feel very proud with their play this week, hope they can keep it up. Travis Gipson doesn't look like a finished product yet and st still he showed big flashes. Hopefully he will get better meaning Khalil Mack can take more breathers to keep himself fresh and come back to terrorize offenses.
Downside players: Deon Bush isn't quite on the same page sometimes, needs to get better on communication but maybe it will be to late with Tashaun Gipson feeling healthier.
With the latest news from Matt Nagy stating that Fields will be the starting QB from now on, the Bears have a chance to be GOOD at offense in the near future but this is one step of two that needed to be made for this to happen, the other is for Bill Lazor to continue to be the play caller, this is still in the air due to Nagy's enigmatic ways to informe in press conferences, lately looking uncomfortable to the point where he likely feels attacked and angry at the ways things have developed in his decision making process. Changes needed to be made to know where this team is really at, Nagy loses more by sticking with the same formula that has failed, waiting till the season ends to see the result is too much wasted time, the change to Lazor and being in Fields ear worked for one game, let it continue and see if it can evolve, maybe this is what Nagy fears and it thinks it could result in losing his job, being a head coach and making the right decision IS the job, it doesn't have to include the play calling, not being a team player is more damaging that not calling the plays. Fields is a potencial boost to the offense and gives hope that the team can elevate their game against opponents like the Raiders who are inconsistent, they are good but haven't shown it for the whole four quarters. Derek Carr gets hot, or desperate, and it shows when get puts extra gas on his throws, he can be rattled if pressured enough. He has the receivers to stretch the field and a reliable alpha with Darren Waller who should be the Bears primary concern, not an easy task that will probably by assigned to Roquan Smith. The Raiders running game is not that great with Josh Jacobs so the Bears defense shouldn't struggle much in this department even if Akiem Hicks doesn't recover in time. The Raiders defense strength is the edge rushers so I expect that the Bears keep it up with what they did against the Lions and improve on their TE sets and max protection to help their OTs. The first quarter of the season ended up being what many though, the next four games are extra tough and a win against the Raiders will very much help in the standings but this season with Fields now leading the way it's much more important to see the HOW they manage to win.
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