Turning Point or Preseason High Point?

Justin Fields thought he saw a turning point for the Bears offense against Cleveland in his three-touchdown day as Chicago won 21-20 to finish preseason 3-0.

It was easy to understand quarterback Justin Fields' exuberance.

Not only did he throw three touchdown passes in a half but he even got an official to throw a flag on an obvious cheap shot when he slid. Now, that was something he really hadn't done before Saturday's 21-20 win over Cleveland.

Fields threw TD passes of 22 yards to Ryan Griffin, 12 yards to Dante Pettis and 24 yards to Cole Kmet in the first half, then left with a 21-0 lead after he'd gone 14 of 16 for 158 yards and with a passer rating of 146.9.

side note: zero turnovers for fields this preseason.

— Dave (@dave_bfr) August 28, 2022

"Definitely a turning point you know, I think you know we can just build on this and we're going to next week you know get better and prepare for San Fran in two weeks," Fields said

Calling final preseason games turning points might be a bit presumptuous but it was easy to understand his enthusiasm after the problems of getting a new offense in sync and also not getting officials' calls. Fields last year took a few cheap hits, including one with Pittsburgh especially, when officials looked the other way. They looked the other way again against Kansas City in the preseason opener when Fields took a hit while sliding, and he wasn't happy.

However, he slid Saturday and when Jacob Phillips hit him up high as he slid the flag came flying, while teammates did the same. They rushed to their quarterback's defense.

"I mean, I feel good, you know, I'm glad I got the call," Fields said. "So I'm definitely happy about that one, sure.

"Hopefully it doesn't have to be that egregious next time to let them call it, so yeah."

#Bears

QB Justin Fields was efficient/accurate in the pass game last night.

And CHI used multiple looks on offense. Play-action/boot, screens, quicks. Schemed throws from the pocket, too. pic.twitter.com/Sth3czjapB

— Matt Bowen (@MattBowen41) August 28, 2022

Players on the bench exploded and were particularly expressive.

"Well, I heard (hollering), I got up and then I kind of like walked up a little bit dizzy like trying to catch my feet or whatever but, yeah, I heard it and then I was just trying to make sure they didn't get a flag for us so they wouldn't offset so yeah. I don't know if Sam's (Kamara) gonna get fined or what so we'll we'll see."

.@ChicagoBears @justnfields Yo Chicago…it looks like you have both a Coach & a QB. How long has it been? Decades? Time for #DaBears to rejoin the NFCNORTH #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/SbgSJTswA2

— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) August 28, 2022

It boosted the first touchdown drive that ended on a 22-yard TD throw in the soft outer spot deep of a zone coverage to Griffin, who had been flagged for holding to negate a 24-yard David Montgomery run just four plays earlier.

Fields hadn't much time with Griffin in camp because of injuries and the same was true early for Pettis but he has come on strong after injuries to Tajae Sharpe and N'Keal Harry. Fields said it doesn't matter because he feels more comfortable with all the receivers than last year, when he was relegated to backup snaps throughout camp.

"I feel like you know I definitely feel like i have a better connection with you know more guys on the team compared to last year just, you know, kind of them rotating," Fields said. "I think that's one positive thing you can brin out to at first not knowing who was going to be the starting (receivers) throughout. There with, you know, a practice here throwing to the different guys and stuff like that.

"So I feel like I've, you know, built chemistry with a lot of guys, receivers, tight ends and running backs."

An encouraging aspect of both the Griffin and Pettis TDs was they came on throws within the pocket in time, withouth Fields needing to scramble. Pettis had three catches for 37 yards.

"I feel like you know we've had a lot of reps up to this point where it's like, you know, we always get extra work in, you know, after practice if we miss here out in practice we'll stay after practice and, you know, get it in. So it's just, you know, constantly building.

You’ll never convince me the 49ers don’t regret passing on Justin Fields.

Guy is leaps and bounds ahead of Trey Lance as a thrower of the football.

— Johnny Venerable (@JohnnyVenerable) August 27, 2022

"He's a great route runner, probably one of the best ones we have on the team. So, you know, he executed the route perfectly and I threw it."

It's probably not surprising the offense opened the way it did considering the physical play of running back David Montgomery was added as he played for the first time in preseason. He had 28 yards on 11 runs but had a 24-yard run negated by penalty.

"I mean, he's the definition of it (physicality) so when you have a guy like that you know, run the ball with the amount of effort he runs it with and the amount of just force and power, I guess, he runs with it kind of shows what we want to show, I guess, for our football team as an identity standpoint so I mean, it opens up you know the play-action, that stuff. So I'm glad he's back." 

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven