As much as Chicago Bears Head Coach Matt Nagy was determined to hold his team back this season, he hand was finally forced with an injury to QB1 Andy Dalton in the 20-17 win over the Bengals last week. While Dalton seemed to be finding his feet well and was having a decent game, it wasn’t until Josh Fields came on that Bears fans at Soldier Field suddenly woke up and finally got excited.
The first round pick out of Ohio State ended the game with a 46.2% completion rate, and despite showing some flashes of brilliance, was sacked twice to go along with a fumble, which he recovered.
Despite leading his team to victory, there were plenty of issues that needed to be addressed heading into tomorrow game at the Cleveland Browns. Against this incarnation of the Bengals, it never should have been that close.
First off, you have the Bears O-line, which still looks very fragile in their attempts to protect Fields being a mixed bag at best. Overall, they were bailed out by their defense, which showed a high level of effectiveness at generating pressure.
And once again, Nagy’s lack of ability to call plays effectively in real time hindered the Bears ability to try and control the game, and eventually close the deal. The Bengals won the yardage battle 248-206, but Roquan Smith came up big with 8 total tackles, a sack and an interception returned 53 yards for a touchdown.
While the Bears defense has remained more or less solid in recent years, it is certainly not Super Bowl level by any means; and the offense is a few tiers below that. Nagy needs to finally get that his strongest QB, regardless of experience, is Josh Fields, who is a talented, proven winner.
He is a finalist for the James E. Sullivan Award, which is presented annually to the most outstanding athlete in the United States. The 2021 Award Ceremony will be held Friday, October 22, 2021 at the Rosen Centre in Orlando, Florida.
The Sullivan Award annually recognizes the outstanding athlete whose outstanding athletic accomplishments are complemented by qualities of leadership, character and sportsmanship. Winners achieve great success on a national and/or international stage through competition in collegiate athletics, Olympic pursuit or similar high profile competitions.
Josh Fields represents that, both on and off the field, and thus deserves to be given the keys to the Chicago Bears, on a full time basis, moving forward.
Georgia Davey contributed to this article.