3 notable differences from Justin Fields to Andy Dalton with Chicago Bears

Reports are that Justin Fields feels fine after missing two games with a rib injury. He is expected to start the Chicago Bears final five games, meaning we should see the end of the Andy Dalton era in Chicago. Andy Dalton has 153 attempts while Justin Fields has 198. It is not a perfect split, but the two are as close as they ever will be considering Fields stays healthy.

With that in mind, fans and media alike have tried to look at raw stats to see the difference between Justin Fields and Andy Dalton. However, it is interesting to note that the offense almost runs entirely different depending on who the quarterback is.

What are the noticeable differences?

Aggressiveness

Justin Fields is far more aggressive than Andy Dalton. We knew that when Fields entered the NFL draft that he was a plus deep-ball thrower, and he has learned on his deep ball. On the flip side, Dalton has worked the short areas much more.

So far this season Fields has a 10.9 average depth of target. On average, his passes go 3.6 yards further than Dalton, who is at 7.3 depth of target. This speaks louder when you see that 18.7% of Justin Fields attempts travel 20 yards, while just 5.9% of Dalton’s passes go the same.

Considering Fields throws the ball deep three times as often as Dalton, it should not surprise anyone that Dalton has a better completion rate. However, Fields has more big-time throws, per PFF.

Fields has a 6.9% big-time throw rate, which is very nice. On the flip side, Dalton is at 3.1%, which speaks to him being less of a playmaker. On the flip side, Fields also has a 3.9% turnover-worthy play rate, while Dalton is 2.2%.

Fields is putting the ball in danger more often at the hopes of the big play, while Dalton is safer with the football. The two styles are completely different.