Luke Getsy did Justin Fields no favors in an ugly loss to Atlanta

The return to Atlanta was supposed to be special for Justin Fields — who is from the area, and his family is still living there. However, the Chicago Bears lost to the Falcons 27-24 in a very ugly game and made his homecoming one to forget.

Justin Fields finished 14-of-21 for 153 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He also ran 18 times for 85 yards with a touchdown.

Once again, he did everything he could for the team that struggled to protect him throughout the game. But on the final possession, offensive coordinator Luke Getsy almost ended Fields’ season with bad play calling that will be the talk of Chicago all this week.

With 1:47 left in the ball game, on first down, Justin Fields hurt himself landing on his shoulder on a designed run play that gained one yard. He was slow getting up. On second down, Fields ran a draw for four yards, but the referees missed an obvious penalty on roughing while he was sliding. He was grabbing his shoulder even more afterward. Then on third down, the pass to David Montgomery went through his hands and was intercepted — ball game.

Luke Getsy’s play calling on the final possession didn’t help Justin Fields

There is no question Getsy has done a great job adjusting his scheme to the personnel and the production has gone up significantly since the New England game. But another failure in the two-minute offense for the third consecutive game put a huge onus on Getsy, especially after today’s final possession.

Fields has been a one-man wrecking crew with basically no support from his offensive line and the receivers. He does not have to put up record-breaking numbers every game. Any progress he makes, even in a loss, is seen as a win for fans. He also had some great throws today.

After the Falcons scored on their opening drive, the Bears responded with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Fields to Darnell Mooney in the back of the endzone — a beautiful pass set up by a nice pick play from Equanimeous St. Brown.

Another one was a 32-yard throw to David Montgomery in the fourth quarter, when he was under pressure, rolled out to the right, pointed for Montgomery to run deep, and threw a perfect pass across his body to extend the drive.

If his injury is serious enough for him to be taken on a cart and receive an IV after the game, which he admitted he was cramping throughout the game, then the Bears must allow him to heal properly. A serious injury could derail his development not only for the rest of this season but also have huge ramifications for the 2023 season as well.

The offense will suffer and will be difficult to evaluate without him in the lineup. Chase Claypool caught only two passes yesterday and his chemistry and timing without Justin Fields will suffer further, adding more frustration to his acquisition and lack of involvement in this offense. The run game without Fields and Khalil Herbert will look very average and strike no fear into the opposing defense.

Chicago Bears Flashback: Nick Foles fuels 4th quarter comeback

The Chicago Bears are facing the Atlanta Falcons this weekend. Here's a look back at the Bears comeback victory that was filed by Nick Foles.

Matt Eberflus praised Getsy on Friday, calling him a strong head coaching candidate after NFL.com’s Tom Pelissaro released an article about the future head coaching candidates and Getsy was listed high. Ironically, he just made it more difficult on himself if Fields must sit out for an extended period after a day like yesterday.