Bears vs Steelers: Justin Fields is still not getting the help he deserves

For those who want to scoreboard and stat watch, Justin Fields is struggling. He has completed less than 50 percent of his passes and has an interception. However, if you have been watching the actual game, you will realize that the Chicago Bears are once again not giving Fields the help he deserves.

A lack of discipline continues to be the Chicago Bears Achilles heel. The Bears have five penalties, including another unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. For a team that continues to get penalized for plays after the whistle is dead, they don’t have much of a mean streak when the play is actually happening. We also saw another penalty coming out of a timeout tonight — vintage Matt Nagy!

The defense is struggling again without Khalil Mack and Eddie Jackson, but they have been slightly better than they were last week versus the 49ers. They have one sack in the first half and have made the Steelers punt the ball three times. That may not seem like a win, but it’s a huge step forward from what took place in Week 8.

Who is going to step up for the Chicago Bears and help Justin Fields?

The offensive line is once again struggling. T.J. Watt has two sacks, although one of them is technically on Fields and the play design. You cannot run a play-action blind bootleg right into T.J. Watt’s arms. However, Fields has also had to scramble too much as receivers fail to get open and find separation.

Then, when Fields is able to make a big play as he did when he hit Allen Robinson on third and seven on their second possession, there was a false start penalty by Jason Peters. Backing the team up deep into their own territory, Fields had no chance at making a play to keep the chains moving.

Right now, Cole Kmet is the only player I have seen consistently find separation. Yep, I said Cole Kmet. He has been able to find spots in zone coverage and has three catches for 54 yards — that’s 85% of the Chicago Bears total receiving yards. Allen Robinson and David Montgomery have the only other catches on the night. Where is Darnell Mooney?

Justin Fields hit Marquise Goodwin now as I write this on a 50-yard catch, but of course, the team lets him down by negating a Jimmy Graham touchdown with what is honestly a bad call for a diving block by James Daniels. Plays like this are why Fields continues to struggle statistically.