3 and Out: Fields Shines Again In Week 10 Loss
Marred by late errors, the Bears drop their third straight
The only thing colder than Chicago this past Sunday was Justin Fields running into the end zone for another, insane 60-plus-yard rushing touchdown. That man is ice cold.
For the second straight week, the Chicago Bears lost a close game but all the talk exiting the 31-30 upending the Detroit Lions put on them has centered around the quarterback, and rightfully so, because he continues to break records.
The Bears fell at the hands of their division rivals from Michigan in a game in which they held a 24-10 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
With that defeat, the Bears became the first team in NFL history to notch 29 or more points in three straight games and yet lose all of them.
A missed extra point and a costly pick-six late in the game erased big moments put together by Fields and tight end Cole Kmet.
The Bears record now stands at 3-7 on the season as the team settles firmly within the projected top-10 slots of the 2023 NFL Draft.
New Dynamic Duo?
With a season that is fast heading through a downward spiral, it is always important to first and foremost look at the positives.
The most notable stand-outs at the moment for the Bears are Fields and Kmet, who over the last few weeks look like they are on a whole new level when it comes to chemistry.
Fields recorded 167 passing yards with two rushing touchdowns and an interception against Detroit but his 147 rushing yards were once again what stole the show. Fields now has the most rushinh yards of any quarterback in any five-game span in the Super Bowl era, eclipsing the record of Ravens’ signal caller Lamar Jackson.
With his electric 67-yard scoring runin the fourth quarter, Fields set the record for the longest quarterback run in franchise history for a second straight week, eclipsing the 61-yard record breaker he set in Week 9 against Miami.
The highlight run and more earned Fields his first career FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week award.
After a slow start to his season, Kmet has exploded on the scene in his last three games. The Notre Dame product has five touchdowns in that span, including two in the loss to Detroit on Sunday.
Many, including the WARR bossman himself Kyle Means, mentioned that the addition of wide receiver Chase Claypool would be a win for a few other players on the offense and it has proven to be true for his good friend from the ND days, Kmet, who unfortunately suffered a thigh injury in the latter stages of the game Sunday.
Kmet’s status for the game in Atlanta is in question, he was last reported as a non-active participant for practice on Wednesday.
In more injury news, the Bears had to place running back Khalil Herbert on the injured reserve on Tuesday. Herbert left Sunday’s loss with an injury to his hip that it now looks will cost him at least four weeks.
You Get a Penalty…You Get a Penalty!
When looking at the main downfalls for the Bears in the Detroit loss, you got to look right at the penalty category.
There were a total of 11 penalties called on Sunday with a whopping nine of them going to the team in Navy Blue.
You can blame the referees all you want — and there were some questionable calls, like the illegal hands to the face call made on Jaylon Johnson that nullified linebacker Jack Sanborn’s first career interception.
At the same time, the late hit on Jared Goff by Kyler Gordon was inexcusable. It was one of the many mistakes that led to the Bears’ demise in the final quarter.
Okudah Matata
In a battle of a pair of subpar defenses, the Bears had their share of big plays and key stops. With the help of Lake Zurich native Jack Sanborn, the Bears were able to hold off the Lions for a while.
Sanborn has had to play a bigger role in the defense after the likes of Roquan Smith and Robert Quinn were dealt and the rookie had the best game of his young career in the loss, recording 12 total tackles and two sacks. Unfortunately, his play alone was not able to push the Bears over the edge.
The Lions’ defense may not have been as sturdy throughout the entirety of the game but they were able to make plays late to put the Bears to bed. None of those plays were bigger than the Jeff Okudah pick-6 that gave the Lions the final 31-30 lead.
“Just a dumb play, screen, the D-end sifted out pretty good. I can assure you that will never happen again for the rest of my career,” Fields said after the game.
The crazy part was that Okudah’s game-changing play should have only tied the game. That would have been the case had Bears kicker Cairo Santos made the extra point following Fields’ big run. That point would have gave the Bears 31 points as well and likely would have set the teams up for an overtime period.
The extra point miss was Santos’ first such kick since Week 1.
The Bears now travel to Atlanta to take on the 4-6 Falcons on Sunday with kickoff at noon.
Saul Rodriguez is WARR Media’s associate producer and lead Bears reporter