(670 The Score) There’s probably a compelling case to be made that the Bears lost on Sunday. If you subscribe to the notion that scoring more points officially means you “are the winner,” then you could logically assume that the Bears picked up their fifth loss of the season in slightly embarrassing fashion. You could crunch all the fancy analytics and see that despite needing 50 points, the Bears only scored 29 – the argument almost makes itself. But there’s good news: I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to be such a huge nerd. There’s another way. Liberate yourself from the arbitrary nature of mathematics and join us in the sun. And here, in your new reality, it’s OK to admit that actually, the Bears won.
Here, your new reality is a lot like "Whose Line Is It Anyway" – everything’s made up and the points don’t matter. The Cowboys could've scored another 50 – they probably would’ve too – and it still wouldn't matter. (Besides, investing more in winning football games than the team you’re rooting for sounds exhausting. You saw that double-pass.) Here, there’s nothing that matters more than quarterback Justin Fields’ development, and right now things in that department look pretty good. What started as good flashes became good drives, which turned into good quarters and games, albeit inconsistently. Now, for the first time in Fields' career, we’re seeing extended good stretches, which is arguably the most exciting development yet. And you know, if in that process the Bears position themselves to grab an elite wide receiver prospect in the 2023 NFL Draft, that doesn’t exactly hurt either.
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It may end up being a coincidence that three of Fields' highest passing totals have come in the past four weeks, but for now it’s just an incredibly convenient reason to be optimistic. That’s allowed in your new reality! After setting his season-high for passing yards (208) against a divisional opponent on the road in Minnesota on Oct. 9, Fields has recorded at least 150 passing yards in every game since. And sure, laugh at where the bar is set all you want, but the Bears were breaking, like, 100-year-old records for passing incompetence all throughout the first month of the season. Looking like a team that now runs the ball 45 times a game because they like to -- and not because they absolutely have to -- is a huge upgrade. Those might be baby steps, but I’ve never really understood why that’s considered insignificant – taking tiny steps because you have literally never known how to walk before feels pretty important to me.
Progress wasn’t linear when Fields was playing poorly, and it isn't linear now. A month ago, people were mocking Bryce Young to the Bears, and now Fields low-key looks like the best quarterback from his 2021 draft class. There’s definitely going to be a bad game or two in the future that tries to pull you back over to your old reality – and if I had to guess, it’s probably going to be on Christmas Eve. So that’s fun. The additional 70 or 80 rushing yards every week certainly help, but eventually enthusiasm for 17-completion, 150-yard stat lines like the ones Fields had against Dallas is going to wane. Even if he wasn’t the first person admitting it, it’d still be obvious that there’s another level he can get to. But in the immediate aftermath of a game in which the Bears finished with their worst point disparity of the season, both the head coach and the quarterback told reporters that they thought the team took a step forward.
Seems like a win, no?
Cam Ellis is a writer for 670 The Score and Audacy Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KingsleyEllis.
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