Chicago Bears: 3 big lies from preseason loss to Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears rookie Justin Fields’ box score didn’t tell the whole story

This game was much tougher to watch than the previous week’s against Miami, and it was mostly because Justin Fields was running for his life. Fields played the entire second half with mostly third and fourth string linemen in front of him.

At one point, Bills linebacker Andre Smith came in and delivered a questionable [editor’s note: it was a blatant hit to the head, not questionable at all] hit on Fields while rushing free. Fields never saw it coming, and his helmet popped off as he went sailing to the ground. That was the epitome of what he had to work with in this game.

In addition to having little to no protection, Fields was a victim of at least five dropped passes from what I could see on film. In the end, he finished 9-of-19 for 80 yards. If he didn’t have those drops, Fields would have ended at least 14-of-19 for roughly 150 yards. He also ran four times for 46 yards while escaping pressure with relative ease.

The big story with Fields, after this game, was the fact that he now needs to get time with the starters in the team’s third preseason game. If Nagy is going to say things after the game like, “We need to see Andy (Dalton) in the regular season,” then he has to be fair across the board and give Fields some time with the starters.

It is already blatantly clear that the offense is more dynamic with Fields under center. Nagy has to do him justice by allowing him some time with the starters, or his performances will be a whole lot tougher to judge, just as this one was.