On a hot and sunny day in Tampa, the state of the Chicago Bears’ was made even gloomier than it was following Week 1’s crushing defeat. In a game fans have had checked off as a “win” for months, the Bears fell 27-17 to the Buccaneers. Not much went well, and today’s performance has left us with more questions than answers. Can Justin Fields be good? Are the offensive troubles Luke Getsy’s fault, or do they lie upon the quarterback? Who is going to be left standing in the secondary by Week 3? Unfortunately, the answers to these questions are unknown. However, the outcome of Week 2’s game is, and there’s a lot to unpack.
Justin Fields Was Bad
I figured, “why bury the lead?” Justin Fields was not good today. This doesn’t mean that he’s terrible. This doesn’t mean that he can’t be good. All it means is that today, September 17, 2023, Justin Fields was not a good quarterback. As a huge fan of Justin Fields, this hurts to say. It’s not all his fault, as Luke Getsy refuses to get him out on the run like he did at the end of last season. Without being used correctly, he is not being put in a position to succeed.
To me, Fields looked like he was overthinking in the pocket. He seemed too pressed on making the perfect play, which led to him holding onto the ball too long, trying to avoid mistakes. In my estimation, either Fields can’t see the field as well as we hope he can, or he needs to learn to trust his gut (and his eyes). No matter the reason, he continues to ignore open receivers down the field.
One third and short comes to mind in which DJ Moore was wide open on a flat route. He easily would have been able to grab the first down had Fields thrown him the ball. This play is especially alarming considering the fact that Moore is the Bears’ number one target, someone that they should be actively trying to target on 3rd downs.
There was also a string of three bad plays in a row from Fields in the last drive of the first half. On the first, a replay revealed several receivers to be open for several seconds. Fields opted to hold the ball, ultimately taking an uncharacteristic sack. He followed this up by making an errant throw to Khalil Herbert on the next play, and taking another costly sack on the play after that (nearly kicking the Bears out of field goal range). Obviously, you don’t expect him to be perfect. But unfortunately, the bad plays were what stood out today.
Defense Bent, But Didn’t Break
The unit managed to give up on 20 points on 437 yards. They absolutely can not stop the run. Whenever the Bucs called his number, Rachaad White was getting good yardage on the ground. Mike Evans also had a field day, accounting for 171 of Baker Mayfield’s 317 passing yards. Still, the defense wasn’t the reason the team lost. They forced Tampa to settle for a field goal attempt on four separate occasions. The unit also was able to force several 3-and-outs in key situations.
At the end of the 4th quarter, a Chase Claypool touchdown brought the Bears within one score with 6:17 left. At this point, it wasn’t inconceivable that Fields and the offense would not get the ball back. However, the defense was able to do its job and give the offense more than 2 minutes to put together a game-winning drive. A turnover every once and a while would be nice (the have not forced any yet in 2023), but the defense ultimately had a solid day today.
Injuries are Stacking Up
In only Week 2, injuries are already becoming an issue. The young secondary, which projected to take a big step forward this season, is already dealing with multiple injuries to key players. Nickelback Kyler Gordon will miss at least three more games after breaking his hand against the Packers. His backup, Josh Blackwell, was also unable to go this week. In today’s game, S Eddie Jackson left with a foot injury. The severity is still unknown. Even S Jaquon Brisker missed time against the Bucs, though this was due to illness. Players can’t keep going down at this rate.
Positives
Chase Claypool showed up today. After being berated all week long for his poor effort (particularly in the blocking game) in Week 1, he took a step in the right direction. There were several plays in which his blocking on the perimeter was noticeable. Ironically, he was actually penalized in the 4th quarter for blocking too early. Quite the opposite of last week. To top the day off, Claypool was even able to haul in his first touchdown as a Bear. Hopefully he keeps this up.