Jets Game Finally Killed The Stupidest Justin Fields Narrative
Some Chicago Bears fans and Justin Fields critics were anxious to watch the game in New York on Sunday. They wondered what might happen if Trevor Siemian played well, particularly through the air. It would serve as confirmation that the young quarterback isn’t as good as people claim. He’s nothing more than a glorified running back that makes most of his big plays on the ground. Those criticisms seemed validated in the 1st quarter. Siemian completed seven of his first nine passes for 120 yards and a touchdown.
People were all too eager to seize the moment, saying Fields was a great talent but not polished enough as a passer. Well, they probably should’ve waited. After his hot start, Siemian finished the day 7-of-16 for 59 yards and an interception. Dig into the numbers further and it looks even worse. In that initial hot start, it’s not like Siemian did anything special. Almost half the yardage (59) came from two checkdowns to running backs David Montgomery and Darrynton Evans. Another 31 came on a 50-50 throw that Chase Claypool did a great job bringing down. If that weren’t enough, his touchdown pass probably would’ve been intercepted if not for a tremendous individual effort by Byron Pringle.
Justin Fields’ absence was felt most on the scoreboard.
Chicago only scored 10 points. People can whine about the passing yards all they want. The fact was Fields helped the team get into the end zone. They’d scored 24 or more points in every game for six weeks prior to Sunday. It is more apparent than ever he was making chicken salad out of chicken s**t. Plenty of people recognized that. Far too many others couldn’t get past the fact he wasn’t putting up 300 passing yards every week. It’s obvious now that he couldn’t. The offensive line and wide receivers aren’t good enough to employ that style of offense. Siemian was only sacked twice, but it would’ve been way more if he hadn’t gotten the ball out fast on several throws.
Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy said the team runs the offense that they feel gives them the best chance to win. Just because Justin Fields isn’t throwing a lot doesn’t mean he can’t. It means the team can’t. The strength of this offense is the running game. His mobility helped maximize that. With him out, the Jets were able to corral Siemian after a slow start and shut him down. Rest assured; they breathed a sigh of relief when Fields was declared inactive for the game.
Maybe it’s time to appreciate the quarterback for the actual danger he is. Please stop trying to mold him into some narrow vision of what a quarterback should be. Embrace the abilities because, like it or not, they work.