The Chicago Bears record might not reflect it, but Justin Fields is having a breakout year, and defenses are beginning to show him a lot more respect.
Despite a relative dearth of quality offensive weapons, Fields has kept the Bears offense moving, thanks largely to his legs. He already has 749 yards rushing on the season, racking up 147 and 178 yards on the ground in each of his last two games.
It had been well-known that Fields could do damage when he runs, but he’s torched enough defenses now that opposing teams have to scheme around keeping the quarterback from running.
With the Falcons set to host the Bears on Sunday, Atlanta head coach Arthur Smith knows a tall task is awaiting them.
“Now they’ve added the quarterback element to (the run game),” Smith said in his weekly interview with “Dukes and Bell” on Wednesday. “You’ve got a guy gaining confidence when he can get going, to put his foot in the ground and get downhill. If you don’t tackle well, he’s extended some third downs even in the dropback, where he’s gotten out of things.
“Once he gets going downfield, he’s a strong player, and that’s where they’re finding success – at least kept them in some games here the last couple of weeks.”
The challenge with Fields, a Kennesaw, Ga., native, is he can improvise. It doesn’t need to be a designed run play for Fields to do damage. He can make things happen even after he gets flushed out of the pocket – in fact that’s sometimes when he does his best work on the ground.
So, the message being drilled into the Falcons defense is to contain him.
“You’ve got to try to contain him as much as you possibly can,” Falcons defensive coordinator Dean Pees said Thursday on “The Morning Show with John and Hugh.” “Heck, he’s got 700-something yards rushing, and beside that, I don’t know how many are on those plays where he drops back to pass, takes off and everybody is in man coverage or something back there and he runs for 30 yards.
"I haven’t kept track of how many are that and how many are designed runs, but it doesn’t really matter. The bottom line is you’ve got to try to contain him as best as you possibly can."
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