Bears’ success lies in hands of Fields

AP Photo | Rick Scuteri

Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields (1) during the first half of an NFL football game against the Las Vegas Raiders, Sunday, Oct. 10, 2021, in Las Vegas.

By DeOndre Saunders, Sports Reporter

In this year’s NFL draft, the Chicago Bears secured their future by drafting quarterback Justin Fields from the Ohio State University. 

Fields was the fourth quarterback selected in the draft and fill in the spot the Bears needed with the departure of quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, who signed with the Buffalo Bills.

For years, the Bears have always had problems with finding the perfect quarterback who fits their team. 

From 2009 to 2016, Jay Cutler was Chicago’s quarterback, but he was not the perfect fit with the Bears despite being there for eight years.

Statistically, Cutler is the best quarterback to play with the Bears with 23,443 passing yards, 154 touchdowns, and 51 wins. However, Cutler could not lead the Bears to a Super Bowl and only led them to one conference championship game in 2011.

Cutler had the opportunity to play alongside star receivers such as Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jefferey, and David Hester and wasted all of their potential. 

Bears fans pleaded for Cutler to leave the franchise, and he did when signing with the Miami Dolphins. 

With Cutler leaving, the Bears needed a quarterback to replace him, which they did when selecting Mitchell Trubisky with the second overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. 

Picking Trubisky second overall would backfire on the Bears because they passed on three-time pro bowl quarterback Deshaun Watson and three-time pro bowler, 2018 Most Valuable Player and 2019 Super Bowl MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Trubisky was not a poor player, but he was not a top-tier talent like Mahomes and Watson. 

Trubisky started to see success early in his career when he led the Bears to the NFC North Division title in his second season while being selected to play in the Pro Bowl. In Trubisky’s four years with the Bears, he led them to only two playoff appearances.

Trubisky was a solid quarterback, but he and the Bears did not come to an agreement for him to sign. Therefore later on, in 2021, he decided to part ways with the Bears and signed with the Buffalo Bills.

With Trubisky gone, the Bears secured Fields as the quarterback to lead the Bears into better days.

Fields’ play style shows how he can throw the ball deep down the field and be mobile with the ball. Fields had 67 passing touchdowns and 19 rushing touchdowns in his three years of playing football in college.

Fields’ most notorious game in college was when he threw six touchdowns for 385 yards against Clemson University in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1 this year. 

Fields has the quarterback play style of Cam Newton and Lamar Jackson, who have both won MVP. With Fields having the similar playstyle of Jackson and Newton, history will repeat itself with Fields soon to be the MVP of the league in years to come.

So far, the Bears are 3-2 with Fields being the starting quarterback after the injury to Bears’ previous starting quarterback Andy Dalton. The Bears have won two out of the three games where Fields has been the starting quarterback. Fields has thrown for 458 yards with one rushing touchdown and one passing touchdown. 

Fields will be the Bears’ future for years to come once he has adjusted to the game.