The Chicago Bears are 2-1 since Justin Fields returned to the starting lineup, and you could argue that he played well enough for the team to be 3-0. Fields has come back with more confidence, a better understanding of the offense, and, more importantly, better skill players and the best offensive line of his career. What are the three biggest differences that have shown in his play since his return?
3. Justin Fields is taking fewer sacks for the Chicago Bears
One of the biggest issues with Justin Fields throughout his career is how many sacks he takes. Fields is still taking some sacks, but the number is down significantly. Fields is taking a sack 8.6% of the time since returning from his injury, which is reasonable, especially with a career rate of 12.7% and coming off of a year with a 14.7% rate.
In the first six games, he was taking a sack of 14.8%. The big difference comes down to him. His pressure-to-sack rate is down from 22.8% to 16%, so about the same drop as his overall sack rate. He is still about the same amount of pressure; he is just taking fewer sacks when he sees the pressure.
One of the big differences is his throwaway rate. Fields throw the ball away 16% of the time since his injury. That is up from 10.9% beforehand. Once again, a 6% drop. So, he was playing hero ball and trying to make the most of every snap. That included not throwing the ball away under pressure and taking too many sacks. Now, he is living to fight another down.
If Justin Fields can play this style of football, the Bears can live with his sack rate, knowing that he creates big plays. Can he finish with a sack rate under 10% from week 11 on?
2. The Chicago Bears are using Justin Fields' legs more
Another reason Justin Fields is taking fewer sacks is because Justin Fields is using his legs more. This comes not only by design but also with his scrambling ability. Justin Fields has an 11% scramble rate since returning from injury. That is up from 9% before. However, most of that comes from a lot of scrambles in week one.
Justin Fields had 11 scrambles from week two through six, which was 7%. He has 12 scrambles in the last three weeks. The Bears also doubled his designed run rate. The Chicago Bears called a designed run 16% of the time in the first six weeks, 30 overall. That is up to 32% and 30 calls over the last three weeks.
The results are notable. He has 30 rushes for 163 yards in the last three weeks. That would have him on pace for over 1,300 yards, and it is 5.4 per attempt and 81.5 yards per game. He had 47 rushes for 237 in the first six games. That is 5 yards per attempt and 39.5 yards per game.
This is a big increase in rushes and yards per game. This had helped the Chicago Bears win games.
1. Justin Fields has increased his accuracy with the Chicago Bears
Justin Fields has been explosive as a runner, and he has taken fewer sacks. What is impressive is seeing his accuracy improve. PFF is able to take away the throwaways, which can often be a smart play by the quarterback to avoid a sack. As noted, the throwaways for Fields came under pressure. When you take out throwaways, spikes, and drops, you see that Fields has an 82.1% adjusted completion rate in the last three games.
That is up from 72.9%. His bad throw rate is down from 15.4% to 6.5%. A lot of this can come from the Vikings game when he threw plenty of screens. However, his adjusted accuracy is above 73% in all three games, and his bad throw rate was zero in the Chicago Bears home win against the Detroit Lions.
If you have watched the Chicago Bears in recent weeks, you would know that he has been more accurate. His completion rate is not as high as you would want to see because he is avoiding sacks and keeping the team ahead of schedule. When he does have the time to pass, he is making things happen. This is a different Justin Fields than the first six weeks.