The routes are good. Receivers were open, Fields either didn’t see them or didn’t trust himself. I lost count of how many times Mooney was running open with his hand raised. The screens connect because there are no decisions for Fields to make, he just turns and throws to his first and only read.
What offense would be tailored to Fields?
This is a serious question. I keep seeing this take on here that the offense doesn’t play to its strengths or that is isn’t designed to feature Fields’s strengths, but those are just empty words. What should be done differently? Specific X’s and O’s would be great. Because I keep seeing open receivers that don’t get thrown to, or not thrown to accurately.
After this game, everyone in this sub still saying the Bears defense sucks will do a turn that would make Brian Boitano blush. Old comments will be deleted and a bunch of new ones made about how they knew the D was good weeks ago.
If someone thinks the defense looks bad, it means they don’t know what they’re seeing. When your offense consistently gives up excellent starting field position and turnovers, no defense is going to stand a chance. Bears have thrown the 2nd most interceptions and been sacked the 5th most amount of times, and that’s despite Bagent, who rarely gets sacked, playing his games. They’ve also fumbled 5 times. Bears are also 31st in plays from scrimmage. You just can’t realistically expect a defense to be able to do much with all that happening by the offense.
Slant routes are critically dependent on timing. The QB must throw to where the receiver is going to be before he gets there, and often before he even breaks. This is one of Fields’s glaring weaknesses - predictive throws that trust the route. I think one reason is that Fields gets the routes wrong, like he did when he threw the pick that was supposed to go to Kmet against the Broncos, and he doesn’t trust himself. Think about it - how many times can you remember Fields throwing passes while the receiver still has his back to the line, turning at the last moment as the ball meets him at the spot? This is the timing necessary at the NFL level. Screens, however, feature a stationary receiver. He hasn’t moved yet, or is moving directly toward or away, so there’s no prediction and less accuracy required.