NME wrote:
Nas wrote:
The Bears have run similar plays. Fields misses the throws or holds the ball too long, waiting to see if the home run option gets open.
This is where you and I part ways on Fields a bit.. while I agree he has his own flaws, it’s also true some of what we’re seeing in his flaws is exacerbated by what he has around him, and how things are called/designed.
Fields needs to be developed, and that’s hard to do from a passing perspective when your O-line can’t hold blocks well, your receivers are questionable, and the play calls/design only call for a select number of passing plays to begin with.
Id also argue that Justin’s accuracy isn’t as bad as people think. I personally think Theres a difference between ball placement, and accuracy.. admittedly it’s nuanced, but it’s real. Accuracy to me is getting the ball to a spot within the catch radius of the intended target, placement is how well that ball is put in a position relative to that catch radius that only the intended target has a shot at it, and the degree of difficulty in making the catch is significantly lower.
Justin throws a lot of passes that guys get their hands on (ie n their catch radius).. his issue is more that his ball placement often leaves a higher degree of either player to get their hands on it (defender or target). The tipped ball by Monty that lead to the pick at the end of the game comes to mind here. In theory Justin did put that ball where Monty could get it (the proof being that he had his hands on it).. the issue however is that the degree of difficulty of that catch was higher because of where the placement is. And that’s where I think Justin’s biggest issue is after he actually throws it, many of his passes have an added degree of difficulty added to making the catch.
Obviously this can still be viewed as accuracy.. but I think ball placement is a fixable mistake, while players who are wildly inaccurate can’t be. And that’s another difference between them.
This is where I strongly disagree with the narrative that's put out about Fields teammates. The Bears have starting level talent on offense at nearly every position. What they lack is star talent.
Montgomery/Herbert are starting level running backs
Whitehair is a starting level LG
Tevin Jenkins is a starting RG
Braxton Jones is a starting level offensive lineman
Darnell Mooney is a starting level WR
Chase Claypool is a starting level WR
Cole Kmet is a starting level TE
I don't deny having your bum ass center getting put on his ass damn near every play can be a challenge. From my seat, that isn't the primary reason Fields struggles to complete passes at every level. Neither is the receiving talent. I see a quarterback still adjusting to not having receivers who are high school wide open on every play. NFL open is something he's still making an adjustment to. He makes the right reads, he just doesn't pull the trigger, or he pulls it late.
I won't argue the semantics of accuracy. Now that I'm thinking about it, timing may be the biggest issue.