GREEN BAY, Wis. (670 The Score) — Showing acute anticipatory skills, Justin Fields wrapped up his postgame press conference Sunday evening at Lambeau Field by acknowledging the uncertainty that surrounds his future.
“To the city of Chicago, love ya’ll … Appreciate the fans and the support from all the Bears, you know, and in case this is my last rodeo with ya’ll, appreciate ya’ll for everything," Fields said before walking off the stage.
There will be no riding off in the sunset for Fields, no happy ending for all the football romantics in Chicago desperate for the popular quarterback to enjoy one. There likely will be no hero's welcome back to Soldier Field.
Sure, the situation technically remains fluid and Fields could still return for his fourth season, but the Bears' 17-9 loss to the Packers only made that scenario seem improbable.
And Fields sounded like he knows it.
“I mean, I’m not sure," Fields said. "That decision is not in my hands,. All I can control is what I did do. I gave it my all. Whether it’s here or not, I have no regrets."
The problems go well beyond the quarterback – from offensive play-caller Luke Getsy to shaky pass protection – but the Bears offense needs revamping.
With a chance to knock the Packers out of playoff contention, the Bears produced nine points on six possessions. After 17 games, we can conclude the Bears offense functioned fine against bad defenses but struggled against playoff-caliber defenses like the Packers and the Browns. A unit that scored 37 points against the Falcons only a week earlier failed to protect the passer or threaten the Packers secondary downfield. You can’t make progress running in place.
A quarterback in Fields who, frankly, needed a big day to finish a strong seven-game closing argument with a flourish settled for an efficient but hardly explosive 11-of-16 effort for 148 yards – the 25th time in 38 career NFL starts he hasn’t surpassed 200 passing yards. He lacked awareness in the pocket and was sacked five times.
Like so many of Fields’ games over the past three seasons, there were intoxicating highs followed by a few exasperating lows. That’s too often the reality for a quarterback with so much experience, especially when the Bears hold the No. 1 overall draft pick and a chance to upgrade at the position. He’s improved, just not enough to remove doubt in the eyes of many evaluators. Evaluation isn’t criticism. Fields still can be an effective starter in the NFL, but it probably won’t be with the Bears.
Face it, if you're still asking the question whether Fields is the guy after three seasons, isn’t that your answer?
That comes off as unfair to the legions of loud Fields supporters, but the NFL is anything but fair. When projecting what happens next, it’s impossible to ignore how the Texans made the playoffs in a turnaround season led by rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud one night before Jordan Love led the Packers into the postseason with another stellar performance. In the NFL, a team can make a playoff run with a first-time starting quarterback if he’s the right man for the job.
And so begins one of the biggest Bears offseasons since the last one, with the season finale creating speculation about the jobs of Fields, Getsy and head coach Matt Eberflus.
Of the three, Eberflus seems like the safest given general manager Ryan Poles’ latest endorsement Sunday during the pregame show on the Bears Radio Network.
Poles hardly sounded like a guy who will wake up Monday morning and fire his head coach, amplifying his admiration for Eberflus.
“You can go back to the original press conference and things I was looking for: One is leadership and the mental toughness and the steady hand to really captain the ship when the seas are rough," Poles said. “His ability to adapt and adjust and really take input from the players to get this thing on the right path was incredible."
To get this thing on the right path.
At some point, maybe Poles can explain why getting “this thing” on the right path now outweighs starting the season off the rails, why finishing 4-2 matters more than starting 0-4. Regardless of any explanation, it remains clear that Poles still believes in the lofty rhetoric he used during his midseason evaluation of Eberflus, when everything looked much bleaker. Or, put in a way nobody at Halas Hall would publicly acknowledge, Eberflus got a lot smarter after the Montez Sweat trade.
For his part, Eberflus maintained he has sought no assurances about his job status and won’t even discuss it with ownership until after exit interviews with every player.
“I welcome those meetings," Eberflus said.
During his postgame comments, Eberflus emphasized the Bears had doubled their win total with a 7-10 record in 2023 and built a chemistry that was “the foundation for our future." He credited players and assistant coaches for navigating their way through an often tumultuous season, especially early. When I asked him how he had developed as a head coach in his second season, he elaborated how he shifted from the CEO role last year into more of a hands-on head coach who called defensive signals after defensive coordinator Alan Williams in September mysteriously parted company with the team – which changed the course of the season.
Like it or not, Eberflus sounded like a coach who expected to return. Retaining him would be a nod for continuity.
“We’re standing on solid ground," Eberflus said.
My sense is it feels a little shakier underneath Getsy.
It seems inconceivable that the Bears would draft a rookie quarterback at No. 1 overall without starting over offensively, which would require firing Getsy and hiring a qualified replacement excited about the possibilities. It seems even less likely – from this vantage point anyway – that the Bears would bring back Fields and Getsy with Eberflus and expect anybody to consider that progress.
Fields spoke highly of Getsy, but top receiver D.J. Moore left little doubt about his frustration over the offense’s lack of downfield passing against the Packers.
“I thought we should’ve taken a shot," said Moore, who answered a question with his own question when asked if Getsy deserved to return.
As for the game itself, the score was a little deceiving given that the Packers missed a makeable 41-yard field-goal attempt and botched a scoring chance at the end of the first half with bad clock management. The Packers gained 432 total yards against a Bears defense damaged by soft coverage and shoddy tackling.
When hope still existed, the defense created their first points of the second half. With 1:17 left in the third quarter, cornerback Tyrique Stevenson — the reigning NFC Defensive Player of the Week – jarred the ball loose from Love on a scramble and Jaquan Brisker recovered at the Bears’ 42-yard line. On the ensuing drive, Fields made two clutch throws: a third-and-7 dart to Moore and a 27-completion to Cole Kmet that required all of the quarterback’s improvisational skills in escaping Preston Smith’s grasp.
But ultimately, like too many times on this day, the drive fizzled and the Bears settled for a field goal instead of a touchdown.
It nearly ended with an interception but Packers cornerback Corey Ballentine dropped the pass Fields tried to force to Kmet in the end zone. The sequence of two exhilarating plays followed by a frustrating decision all but summed up the Justin Fields Experience referenced earlier, so exciting for stretches that can make it easy to forget the frustrating mistakes.
The most controversial play came when Fields took a hard hit midway through the fourth quarter from Packers safety Jonathan Owens, who delivered it with his shoulder forcefully enough to knock Fields’ helmet hard into the turf. His head visibly bounced. Two snaps later, Fields left the game and retreated to the blue injury tent. He returned after missing one snap to replace Nathan Peterman, taking a sack and throwing a side screen away. If you wondered if something seemed off with Fields after absorbing the blow from Owens, you weren’t the only one. And if you wanted an unnecessary roughness penalty, you weren’t alone either.
“At what point…” the NFL’s most abused quarterback began postgame, before catching himself. “I don’t know how to answer that because I don’t want to get fined."
Why Owens wasn’t flagged is a good question. Why Fields returned so quickly after looking so wobbly is a better one, because brain injuries aren’t ones that can be shaken off like a twisted ankle.
Meanwhile, Fields’ counterpart Love made it look easy against the vaunted Bears defense, completing 27 of 32 for 316 yards with two touchdowns for a 128.6 passer rating. He was accurate and efficient, buying time and finding the open receiver. He spread the ball around to various receivers with names you don’t know and the Bears secondary won’t soon forget – Jayden Reed did the most damage with four catches for 112 yards.
Love came into the game performing like one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks over the final month and left it a playoff participant in his first year as a starter, validating the faith the Packers placed in him to replace a legend. Give Love credit. He faced enormous pressure given the organizational expectations for the position and, since midseason, he has looked nothing like a first-year starter. Once again, the Packers appear to have identified their quarterback of the future while the Bears wonder, still searching in vain for an answer at the game’s most important position.
In the corridors after the Packers’ 10th straight victory in the series, chants of “BEARS STILL SUCK’’ rang out. The regular season had ended the way it began, with the Packers showing the Bears just how far apart the franchises remain.
Yet in a somber Bears locker room, veteran offensive lineman Cody Whitehair offered the kind of optimism rooted in reality many NFL teams envy. The Bears have the No. 1 overall pick. They have a top-10 defense. They have loads of salary cap space. They have a locker room that values character.
“I think this team is going to be great next year," Whitehair said. “You can just see guys want to play for one another. It’s on the tape. This team is on the rise."
With about 90 seconds left in the game, Poles packed up his belongings and left his seat in the Lambeau press box. He had seen enough.
We all have this season.
Leaving early made sense for Poles. Now it’s time for staying late.
Now, his real work begins.
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