The Chicago Bears used their mini-bye between the Week 6 loss to Washington on Thursday night and Monday night’s tilt against the New England Patriots to rework the offensive game plan. It paid off in a big way, as the offense woke up and helped destroy the Pats, 33-14.
“We had a chance to take a breath during the (mini) bye week and really figure out what we needed to do and needed to adjust what we’re doing well,” coach Matt Eberflus said via the official transcript. “And some things we needed to tweak a little bit and no big changes but just some things that — to enhance our player skill sets. And I thought we did a good job with that.”
The Bears scored more than 30 points for the first time since Week 16, 2020, the most points with Justin Fields as the quarterback. The rush game keyed the offense as Chicago galloped over New England to the tune of 243 yards and two TDs.
Fields led the rushing attack with 82 yards, notably taking more designed runs than in previous weeks. An aspect of Chicago’s offense that had been conspicuously missing given Fields’ talent, the QB earned 63 yards on 12 designed runs, both career highs, per Next Gen Stats.
“I thought it brought a whole different element to our offense,” Fields said of using his legs. “I think we executed that well. And there were definitely some explosive plays in the design runs for sure.”
Like Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts or Daniel Jones, designed QB runs can help open up the rest of the offense. The lack of usage from coordinator Luke Getsy in previous weeks was head-scratching. Better late than never.
Fields’ rushing ability helped open lanes for Khalil Herbert and David Montgomery on the ground, aided the quarterback’s play-action passes and helped keep Chicago in manageable third downs for the most part. The Bears converted 11 of 18 third downs (61.1 percent — entered Week 7 converting 35.6 percent).
One of Fields’ best plays of the night was a third-and-14 scramble where he stepped through pressure and dashed for a first down late in the first half. The type of play showed the danger the QB can cause a defense.
“He’s special,” Herbert said. “I always tell him, ‘Be special, be you, use your legs and do what you do.’ He was able to do that tonight definitely.”
Fields passed for 179 yards on 13-of-21 passing with a TD and an INT off a deflected ball, and he was sacked four times. The numbers aren’t eye-popping, but there are signs of growth. The QB made several on-time throws, used his athleticism to get out of trouble and made splash plays.
The second-year signal-caller still needs to process quicker and get rid of the ball, but when he’s using his legs like Monday night, it takes the pressure off the need to be perfect in the pocket.
“My main goal right now is to continue to improve each and every day, each and every game,” Fields said. “So, again, kind of look at tomorrow with the film, really tonight on what can I get better at and what I can improve on as an individual and what we can improve on as a team. So we’re just focused on getting better each and every day.”
If the Bears continue to progress as an offense behind Fields, and the young studs on defense keep growing, Chicago has the makings of a frisky club.