For six games this season, and for his entire Bears career, quarterback Justin Fields has probably felt like he was running uphill with a 100-pound weight on his back. It has been one step forward, two steps back.
At least, that's what it has felt like as the young signal-caller has struggled to find consistency early in his NFL career.
But the 23-year-old feels the Bears' 33-14 beat down of the New England Patriots on Monday night at Gillette Stadium could be the start of that forward push he and the team have been searching to find. They just have to make sure they build off what was a dominant performance in the Foxboro mist.
“Yeah. For sure. Definitely momentum," Fields said after the win. "But again, we can’t get too high on the win. We got to reset Wednesday and come in and prepare like any other week, prepare like last week. Again, I know our guys aren’t going to be satisfied with just this win and we’re just going to get back to work this week."
The Bears had 11 days to sit and stew on their ugly Week 6 loss to the Washington Commanders. Head coach Matt Eberflus and his staff used the mini-bye week to re-evaluate every player, every unit, and the team's schemes.
The results of their work were on display Monday night.
Coming into Monday night, the Bears had called just 12 designed runs for Fields. Having a 6-foot-3, 230-pound quarterback who runs a 4.4 40-yard dash is a weapon the Bears needed to dust off.
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They did just that Monday night as Fields rushed 14 times for 82 yards. By an unofficial count, eight of those were designed runs, five were scrambles, and one was a kneel-down. Fields gained 8 yards on a QB power run with jet motion in the first quarter, scored a 3-yard touchdown on a QB sweep, and broke off a big run on a QB draw.
Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens punished the Patriots with the QB run game in Week 3, and the Bears went to that well early Monday night.
"I thought they were good," Fields said of the quarterback designed runs. "I thought it brought a whole different element to our offense. I thought we executed that well and they were definitely some explosives in the designed runs for sure."
Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy also dialed up some easy-access throws for Fields with screens and crossers. He also rolled the pocket a couple times, changed the launch angle, and even had a naked boot or two in there.
Fields and the Bears' offense looked like a different unit than the one that went 0-for-3 in the red zone against the Commanders and scored only seven points.
The Bears rushed for 243 yards Monday. Fields had 82 of those and added 179 through the air.
It was a night Fields and the Bears had been waiting for. Now, they just have to make sure it's not a one-hit-wonder like the rookie quarterback they bludgeoned on the other side.