Justin Fields fumbles are an overblown narrative used by many Chicago Bears haters
Chicago Bears were not negatively impacted by all of Justin Fields fumbles
There are still five games left and 2023 will likely see more fumbles from Justin Fields. I'm sure he will hit double digits as he has each of his two seasons prior. The one difference this year is that he's lost nearly every fumble, whereas in 2022, Fields only lost 12.5%. In 2021 he lost nearly half. Great, he has only lost 33.33% of his fumbles, but not all fumbles -- even fumbles lost -- are negative. Wait. You are thinking, how can this be true? Well, let's give a couple of quick examples. To hear more, check back next week for the podcast (I'll add the link here after it's live).
Of Justin Fields' 36 fumbles, I gave 21 of them a negative grade. Even though he only lost 12, some were sacks that lost yardage and led to punts. That's still a negative on Justin Fields. However, as I talk about on the Halas Huddle podcast, context has to be included when it comes to stats. Stats and analytics alone are great. Film study and breakdowns alone are great too. However, the best analysis is always a true combination of both approaches. Context is key.
Of those 21 negative fumbles, eight are assigned or at least partially assigned to another player. Wait, how can that be? Well, some of them should be just as much, if not more to blame on the running back while making an exchange at the mesh point (the point when the QB and RB meet for a handoff). Others are just as much, if not more to blame on the center. On the podcast, I discuss how many should be on Sam Mustipher, who also had snapping issues. This team needs a good center as soon as possible. Some fumbles went out of bounds despite a large gain.
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To recap, when someone throws out 36 fumbles as a negative, that's not enough context and it's overblown. Remember, only 12 of those have been lost and only 21 were "negative" -- only 13 being solely on Justin Fields. I will say, that a couple were in the fourth quarter and arguably cost the Chicago Bears a chance to win the game, but many quarterbacks have that on their resume. Ball security is an issue to be concerned about, but the narrative that many are throwing out there is just completely overblown.