(Audacy) Bears quarterback Justin Fields put on a show in Chicago on Sunday afternoon. He threw three touchdown passes in a game for the first time in his career and made an even bigger statement on the ground. Fields set a new NFL record for the most rushing yards by a quarterback in a regular-season game with 178 yards on 15 carries.
Fields is starting to turn a corner for the Bears. He’s now thrown for five touchdowns with no interceptions in the last two games and has a rushing touchdown in each of those contests as well.
Danny Parkins and Andrew Fillipponi of the Audacy Original Podcast “1st & Pod” discussed Fields’ record-setting game and his recent play overall.
“Here we go, baby. He has arrived,” Parkins said (18:17 in player above). “Higher up in the rundown maybe than it should be, call it biased, it does not matter. Are you on board even though he’s never had a 300-yard game – could not even sniff 200 passing yards – are you on board with the arrival of Justin Fields? Single-game NFL record for rushing yards by a quarterback.”
“I knew you were going to have like an orgasmic reaction to that, so I was bracing myself for it all day,” Fillipponi replied. “It is 100% your lead topic for five days, all week, but for our purpose, I don’t think it’s the biggest thing from that game at all.”
“Get the f–k out of here,” Parkins exclaimed. “He had four touchdowns … The rest of that class is terrible. He looked good against Dallas. He looked good against the Patriots. This is the arrival of a young quarterback.”
Over the last three games, Fields has gone 47-for-72 through the air with six touchdowns and just one interception. He’s added 320 yards and three touchdowns on the ground on 37 attempts.
Fillipponi pointed to the Dolphins once again putting up a strong offensive performance, led by quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s 300-yard game in the win. Nevertheless, Fields is worth talking about.
“I’m going to ask you the ultimate question on Fields,” Fillipponi said. “And don’t give me some bulls–t pro-Chicago answer: Fields or Lawrence?”
Of course, Trevor Lawrence was the first overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft out of Clemson. Fields was the fourth quarterback taken, at 11th overall by the Bears.
“Fields,” Parkins answered quickly, noting the lack of support around him.
“Equanimeous St. Brown. Dante Pettis. Fifth-round tackles. No first-round picks on the offense with him,” Parkins said. “Darnell Mooney, fifth-round undersized dude out of Tulane. And he’s doing this back-to-back-to-back. Yeah, the Washington game was bad four games ago, but look at that second half against the Vikings five games ago. He’s turning a corner, man, with nothing around him. It’s not a finished product because the passing is not there. He’s doing it in a way that is not sustainable long-term, but the Bears have never had a quarterback this exciting in my lifetime. Period.”
The 2010 version of Jay Cutler may come close, but he had already been to a Pro Bowl and there was talent around him on that Bears roster.
“This is your guy," Parkins said. "You drafted him. You’re developing him. You’re with him every step of the way. And, oh yeah, by the way, he’s likable.”
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