Justin Fields‘ season debut and first time playing in a Luke Getsy offense was a bit different than what you would expect. The weather causes you to throw most of it out of the window. Still, there are minor things worth picking up on and seeing if they become trends with the Chicago Bears this year.
These are three stats that are at least notable, and we will have to keep an eye on if this is what we should expect.
3. Chicago Bears ran more screens and play action
The first note is more of a product of the offense than it is a stat that tells us much about Justin Fields. However, one thing it does tell us is that Luke Getsy is working to help Justin Fields more often. We highlighted that initially as the team gave their lineman plenty of chip support.
Beyond that, Getsy helped Fields and the offensive line by getting the ball out of his hands quicker. Under Matt Nagy, Fields threw a screen pass 6.2% of the time. That number is up to 21.7% through one game.
The weather may have impacted that, but even at 9% less, it is double last season. Fields had an 89.2 passer rating on screenplays, and a 67.4 on non-screen plays, so it was obvious that the screens were helping.
Beyond that, they ran play-action 34.8% of the time. That is another step up from 23.8% last season. Getsy is causing confusion in the defense which makes life easier for his quarterback. He had a 116.7 passer rating on play action, and a 60 passer rating on non-play action plays.
Last season he had a 102 passer rating on play action, and 116.4 rating on screens. Still, they called those types of plays 26.8% less than Getsy did on Sunday. That is a pretty significant change.