Andy Dalton is the Bears’ starter. But Justin Fields might be their closer.
Andy Dalton is the Bears’ starter. But Justin Fields might be their closer.
After saying all training camp that the veteran Dalton would take the starter snaps, Bears coach Matt Nagy carved out room for the rookie quarterback in the 34-14 loss to the Rams on Sunday. His snaps came almost exclusively in the red zone, where the Bears utilized his athleticism and the threat of him running.
In fact, Fields scored his first touchdown of the season before Dalton did, running for three yards midway through the third quarter on yet another play near the Rams’ end zone.
There might be many more to come. Nagy, for at least one game, managed to thread the needle.
The coach spent the last few weeks ducking any questions about putting Fields in a special package, but it’s clear the Bears were prepared to do just that from the opening kick.
On the first drive, Fields ran onto the field for one down. With the ball at the Rams’ 12, the Bears ran Fields out for his first NFL snap. He looked right, completed a nine-yard pass to Marquise Goodwin along the right sideline, and left the game.
Fields returned for the Bears’ third drive, and at the worst time. After Dalton completed a 19-yard pass to Goodwin — and the Bears got an extra 15 yards because of facemask penalty — the Bears had first down at the Rams’ 44. Fields took the snap, flipped and flipped the ball on an end around to Goodwin. He was tackled for a two-yard loss.
The next time Fields took the field, he was back in the red zone — and running another tricky play. Fields faked a handoff left and threw a shovel pass to receiver Allen Robinson for 1 yard. Robinson was rolled into left tackle Larry Borom — who was only playing because starter Jason Peters left with a quad injury. Borom left the field, and so did the rookie quarterback.
Three plays later, Fields ran right for a three-yard touchdown.
In the fourth quarter, Fields took a shotgun snap on third-and-2 and handed to David Montgomery for a first down.
And you know what? It looked good.
Fields seeing the field gives the Bears an offensive element they haven’t seen in years. For now, we’ll have to settle for those plays coming one at a time.
Nagy tried to use Mitch Trubisky in a similar way last season when he was buried behind Nick Foles on the bench. It lasted all of one play — Trubisky ran left against the Saints, was tackled and hurt his shoulder.
Now, it’s up to Nagy to make the Dalton-Fields dynamic work on a week-to-week basis. It will be a strategic chess match now that 31 NFL teams have film of the Fields packages. Whatever element of surprise Nagy had in his back pocket entering Sunday night’s game is gone.
But Nagy’s biggest challenge will go beyond Xs and Os. Will Dalton, who relies on rhythm passing to move the ball, accept coming out of the game after a big play? After having to answer questions about Fields all preseason, what will Dalton think of the backup quarterback getting an inordinate number of touches with a chance for a touchdown?
And how will Fields handle inconsistent work? Will he do what he did Sunday night: patiently stand on the sideline with his helmet on, waiting to be put into the game? What happens if he breaks off a long run — or a pretty pass — and has to come watch Dalton?
Dalton isn’t a game-changer. His teammates need to be perfect — and he needs to be close to it — for the Bears offense to make any semblance of sense. For parts of Sunday night, they struggled. If that happens at Soldier Field on Sunday, fans will chant Fields’ name.
For at least one week, though, they learned that a few snaps by the rookie is better than none at all.