https://www.the33rdteam.com/category/analysis/2023-nfl-week-1-time-is-running-out-for-bears-justin-fields/For one, Fields was barely asked to throw the ball down the field. Fields’ average depth of target (3.7) and average yards to the sticks (-6.7) were both the second lowest in the league through the afternoon slate of games.
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So many of Getsy’s calls are intended to protect Fields from himself. For instance, many of their drive starters didn’t ask Fields to do a whole lot.
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Right or wrong, Getsy wanted to guarantee three points instead of seeing what Fields could do. It says a lot about the quarterback when a play-caller effectively surrenders on a gettable third-down situation within scoring range.
It’s not hard to understand why the offense is still so baby-proofed, considering how Fields played on Sunday.
Fields didn’t at all look to have sped up his processing and decision-making. Not only did Fields finish with a 2.95-second time-to-throw average — the fifth-highest in the league so far — but he regularly held onto the ball for an eternity before ultimately scrambling.
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Fields struggled all last season with triggering on throws unless they were completely wide open, and it doesn’t look like anything’s changed if the Packers game is any indication.
Same Old Problems
The same is true of Fields’ ball placement. Fields’ best throws are as tantalizing as it gets, but the more time passes, the more those throws feel like a siren song. The down-to-down accuracy still isn’t there. Per Next Gen Stats, Fields’ completion percentage over expectation was -7.2 percent against the Packers, the sixth-worst among the 28 quarterbacks who played before Sunday night.
The concern isn’t that Fields played poorly. It’s that Fields played poorly in the same exact ways we’ve seen him play poorly before.
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