There was a noticeable glint in Justin Fields’ eyes late Saturday night, a sincere belief that the Chicago Bears’ 21-20 preseason defeat of the Cleveland Browns carried significance. After all, Fields and the first-unit offense found a groove in the first half at FirstEnergy Stadium. Then they stayed there. In a span of four possessions, Fields led scoring drives of 80, 52 and 62 yards, finishing each series with a touchdown pass to a different receiver.
This was undeniable production to validate the past month of the training camp grind.
“I just think we’re continually getting better,” Fields said postgame. “Each and every day, we’re building off the previous day.”
The quarterback’s upbeat enthusiasm spoke volumes. This was progress. This was momentum for a still-jelling offense to carry into the regular season.
This was something.
“Definitely a turning point,” Fields added a couple minutes later. “We’ll just build on this.”
Given a chance to use the preseason finale to gain experience and build confidence, Fields took full advantage of Saturday’s opportunity. He ran 29 plays in the first half and completed all but two of his 16 passes, throwing for 156 yards and posting a passer rating of 146.9.
Fields also gave Bears fans a new brief montage of TD highlights as a possible trailer for the next four-and-a-half months.
Fields’ first-half hat trick — 22 yards to Ryan Griffin, 12 yards to Dante Pettis, 24 yards to Cole Kmet — seemed to unlock the doors of imagination in Chicago, even if it was merely an exhibition game on an August Saturday in Cleveland.
“It was just execution by all parties,” Fields said. “The O-line did a great job protecting today. I told them that multiple times. The receivers did a great job running the right routes at the right depths.”
Added guard Cody Whitehair: “This is good momentum heading into the season.”
Listen, everyone is entitled to react to Saturday’s first-half fireworks show however they feel appropriate. If your gut tells you that this was only the preseason and that standout Browns pass rushers Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney didn’t play, that’s completely fair. The Bears will face much bigger tests in every game they play. Thus it’s justifiable to question whether Saturday’s offensive production will have much, if any, carryover into the regular season.
It’s also acceptable for those who want to wrap their arms around the positive energy that bubbled up and give those intoxicating emotions a big squeeze. That was, after all, a Bears offense that played with obvious purpose, that was efficient, that dropped the top down then put its foot on the gas in the express lane for an hour or so.
The ride felt refreshing and somewhat exhilarating. And in Chicago, optimism and encouragement are always welcome visitors at this point of the summer.
Still, what matters most, is how the Bears themselves will process their offensive success.
Coach Matt Eberflus? He liked the overall operation and the balance between the running game and the passing game.
“I thought our play-action was nice,” Eberflus said. “The boots and the waggles were good. We took the completions that were there. … I think (our offensive guys) feel positive about the performance.”
Whitehair has six seasons of experience to help him avoid exaggerating the meaning of an effort like Saturday’s. Still, he felt satisfied.
“It’s just the fact that we played so well together,” Whitehair said. “It really felt like we were clicking on all cylinders. I felt like our continuity was good, our communication was good. And this was a good way for us to head into the season.”
Kmet, meanwhile, can feel the little improvements of the offense beginning to stack.
“This is us showing a progression,” he said. “We’ve talked about this and said it. Now you’re starting to see it. And we’re starting to feel it a little bit more. We’re just going to keep running with it.”
The outside world can choose whatever frame they care to push Saturday’s performance into. Two months from now, we’ll have a much clearer understanding of whether this was a fortuitous foreshadowing or merely a hollow tease.
But what Fields showed was the command he’s capable of when he’s feeling comfortable and confident. What his teammates offered was the proper support through crisp execution and focused resilience to pump added belief into the Bears’ fuel tank.
Griffin, for example, made his touchdown catch just three snaps after his holding penalty on a 24-yard David Montgomery run pushed the Bears back into a suboptimal first-and-20 situation near midfield.
How rare it was to see a potential drive-killing error like that ultimately trumped by a few smart plays and ultimately a touchdown.
“Usually those things set you back,” Eberflus said.
Added Fields: “Before the game, we know we’re going to run into adversity (at some point). I just thought it was really good by the guys — the O-line, the receivers, the running backs — just to show that we can past that fairly easily and keep a drive going”
The touchdown pass to Pettis? That seemed schoolyard-simple, a breezy pitch and catch against a favorable defensive look. That play turned a Bears interception into points.
“Pretty much a one-on-one matchup,” Fields said. “The corner had a little bit of inside leverage. So (Dante) stayed patient on his route and of course ran a good route. He’s a great route runner.”
The exclamation point on the first half came on the strike to Kmet on a play-action rollout with the Bears featuring fullback Khari Blasingame, Griffin and Kmet and receiver Isaiah Coulter as possible targets. Earlier in the half, Fields had used the same concept to hit Blasingame in the flat for a 6-yard gain. This time, though, with a Browns cornerback blanketing the flat, two other defensive backs carrying Coulter into the end zone and a couple other defenders converging on Griffin near the right hash, Fields used his eyes as traffic control while Kmet slipped uncovered down the sideline.
All Fields and Kmet had to do was not screw the darn thing up. They didn’t.
Fields’ pass looped across the goal line into Kmet’s mitts. And that was the first-unit offense’s final play of the preseason, a touchdown that provided a 21-0 second quarter lead and an obvious surge of adrenaline.
“This was a good step forward,” Eberflus said.
That much seems irrefutable. It’s up to Fields and the Bears now to make sure they continue moving in that direction.
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Source: Berkshire mont
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