Justin Fields led a rare fourth-quarter comeback drive in the Bears’ 12-10 win over the Vikings on Monday Night Football. He completed a 36-yard pass to DJ Moore in the middle of the field to set up Cairo Santos’ fourth field goal of the game. It was the longest play of the day by either side and it was a watershed moment for him, the team and head coach Matt Eberflus.
Former Bears defensive end Alex Brown was not impressed, though.
“That throw, every quarterback in the NFL could make,” Brown said on NBC Sports Chicago’s “Football Aftershow.” “Every backup quarterback in the NFL could make (it). He was wide open. Let’s be honest, DJ Moore was wide open.
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“There are 32 teams in the NFL, 64 quarterbacks can make that throw.”
Fields’ throw to set up the game-winner may have been routine for many QBs, but it was still a big moment in his development. Fields has made plenty of jaw-dropping plays with his legs and his arms over the past three years, and he’s put the Bears in position to win more often than the team has managed to win. One of the big knocks on his game is that he hasn’t been able to come through in clutch moments, however.
Before Monday night, Justin Fields had only led the Bears offense to two game-winning drives in the fourth quarter. On one of those drives– in the team’s win over the lowly Texans in Week 3 of the 2022 season– Fields didn’t really do anything at all. He handed the ball off once and kneeled twice before Cairo Santos trotted out for a field goal to seal the victory.
Brown recognized that Fields has played better over his last four games. He said the best scenario for the team’s future is for Fields to continue to play well and for the team to build around him moving forward. But he doesn’t believe in throwing parades for moments that should be routine.
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“Don’t overreact to simple stuff. There are certain things that come with being a quarterback in the NFL, and that I expect you to do. That throw is one of them.”