Which Chicago Bears were losers in Week 16 vs. Cardinals?

The Chicago Bears beat a bad team at home like they were supposed to. They jumped out to a commanding 21-0 lead in the first half and did enough in the second half to keep the lead, shocking as it was. This game had less to do with the standings at this point and more with what could be taken away from the game in terms of end-of-season evaluations.

Just today, Matt Eberflus said to ESPN 1000, "The decisions haven't been made, and those are waiting until the end of the year when everything's finalized." He added that the focus right now is on next week's matchup versus the Falcons. That leaves players two games to help Eberflus and Ryan Poles make decisions regarding who goes and who stays for next year. Justin Fields is at the top of that list, and he had a chance to prove something against the Cardinals.

Chicago Bears Week 16 Loser No. 1: Justin Fields

Justin Fields is on this list because while he did not play poorly, he simply did not do as well as he should have against a team that is bottom of the league in defense. Say what you want about how he played, but it comes down to the fact that there seem to be more reasons to move on from him than not to, so he needed a powerful performance against the Cardinals to help his case.

Many Bears fans will have mixed feelings about this week's outing for Fields, which is perfectly valid. Some would say he is a winner because he did enough to help the Bears win and make the plays he needed to. Others would say it was just an average performance that did not do anything to move the needle. That is the key part of this week for Fields. His performance did not move the needle. Sure, he showed once again that he is a dual threat on offense, and he had a passing and rushing touchdown. Still, he threw a bad interception in the red zone and also did not "show out" against one of the league's worst defenses.

With the Bears looking like they will be picking first in the upcoming draft, at this point, every play from Fields is going to be studied in order to help Ryan Poles decide if he wants to move on from Fields. This is not my endorsement of either path in the offseason, but simply an understanding that Fields did not do enough against the Cardinals for this week to have increased the likelihood he sticks around next year. He did have both of his top targets banged up and an offensive lineman missing, but in general, the narrative from this week was not positive enough from his performance.