by Carmen Vitale
North FOX Sports NFC writer
It’s the second and the goal is on the three-yard line. The Chicago Bears grabbed the ball early in their Thursday night game against the Washington captains. Neither team scored.
Chicago quarterback Justin Fields is holding back and it won’t take long for Ryan Griffin to open up. He’s just outside the end zone and there’s no defender in sight. The fields find it and throw it away. Only, there was a little hesitation on the part of Griffin during his voyage – and it proved costly. He was late to the penalty spot that Fields expected him to be in. The ball fell incompletely. The Bears team almost got the first points of the match.
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Two plays later, he’s fourth and a goal on the 1-yard line. Continuing the trend seen last week, coach Matt Ebervloss decided to be aggressive. Instead of taking the three near-certain points across the field goal, the Bears are striving to get them. Running back Khalil Herbert was the champ who ran the ball 64 yards down the field earlier in the lead and helped Chicago on the point. Sure, he could get another one.
But he didn’t. He was stopped by the Washington Front which, although the team as a whole is struggling at this point, is likely to be one of the best in the league. The score remained 0-0. Bears almost scored.
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Fast forward to the Bears last drive at night. Chicago is down 12-7, they have no timeout and are left to play 1:49. After converting 3rd and 5th on the 13-yard fairway to a Darnell Mooney wide receiver, Fields takes off for 39 yards to get the Bears within close range. Now 35 seconds left on the clock, Chicago has a fourth and a goal at the four-yard line. It’s Mooney who opens again, and crosses the goal line with a defender on him. Mooney throws the ball on first contact, and Washington cornerback Benjamin Saint-Just manages to prevent Mooney’s body from breaking the volley once he controls the ball. It’s short. The Bears team almost won the match.
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“We’re always told we’re almost done, we’re close to getting there,” said one frustrated Fields after the match. “Personally, I’m sick of being almost there. I’m sick of being so close. I feel like I’ve been hearing that for a long time now.”
Fields is in his second offensive line for several years. He never got to the point where he was comfortable with former coach Matt Nagy’s scheme. You never clicked. He has started from square one again this year. The frustration is understandably compounded on his part. He was told to be patient and he was about to be there for a full calendar year at this point. He was even told about it after tonight’s game.
“Again, it’s all about execution,” said Eberflus. “It’s six or seven plays, and I said to the guys, listen, it’s—we’re there. We’re there. We just have to keep believing and keep believing in what we’re doing and how we’re doing it. We’re there and we’re going to get over this hump.”
The truth is that the “semi” of the game that was so winnable for Chicago is not, in fact, a microcosm of the bears as a whole. They are not “almost there”. They still have a long way to go to cut multiple routes.
You might say the fields missed open receivers all night long. And maybe he did. But there were also several points through the mentioned receivers.
You might say Fields decides to run too soon and too often. And maybe he does. But there were protection malfunctions throughout the night due to an attack streak that was switched in-game, not to mention that it was also switched all year long.
“I have to be more consistent,” Braxton-Jones said. “I have to give him a #1 chance, and not let him get upset too early. I think that’s the biggest thing.”
“When you have a man like that, (who) can navigate well, and move in that pocket, you live and die by his side.”
Jones’ night was tough. He was sitting in the back, waiting to be lunged by one of the NFL’s best pass racers in the Montez Suite, Washington. The front of the leaders dominated the line of contention, and any progress made in protecting against Minnesota last week seemed to have disappeared against an even more formidable enemy.
It’s further evidence that bears are not there. They are simply still getting used to a new system with lots of new players and new voices leading the way. It’s not the sensational answer and it’s redundant, but it’s a fact.
However, being “almost” and believing in what the team is doing are two separate things. You can still have faith in what this team can become and the potential of its parts when you put them together with the realization that the Bears are nowhere near that point.
“All you can do is go back to work,” Fields said. “That’s the only reaction you have. Live and learn, come back to next week and keep getting better.”
Carmen Vitali covers NFC North for FOX Sports. Carmen has had previous hiatus with The Draft Network and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. She spent six seasons with the Bucs, including 2020, which added a Super Bowl Champion title (and a boat ride participant) to her resume. You can follow Carmen on Twitter at Tweet embed.
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Originally published at San Jose News Bulletin
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