3 key advanced stats to know about Chicago Bears QB Justin Fields in week one loss

1. The Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields needs to throw downfield more

Maybe the most surprising stat from the Justin Fields debut was his average depth of target. Fields has a career depth of target of 9.4. He had a 10.1 depth of target as a rookie and 9.5 last season. Against the Packers, it was 3.6 yards down the field. This is just not who Justin Fields is.

Fields is one of the more downfield, aggressive throwers in the NFL. In week one, he was everything but that. This is surprising because the team added D.J. Moore, who was targeted downfield often and was one of the best at reeling them in. The thought was that Moore would open the offense up even more, not condense things.

Well, one issue is that Moore was hardly targeted. Another issue is that it was a combination of Fields not wanting to throw deep as well as plays being called too close to the line of scrimmage. Justin Fields had chances to open things up and elected to either scramble or check down too soon. At the same time, too many route concepts were looking for Fields to play in the pocket and get the ball out in the short areas of the field. That just is not his game.

The combination of Fields not being aggressive and his coordinator not forcing balls down the field led to this. If one thing had to change, this offense has to live on Justin Fields throwing deep balls.