Bear Digest

Big Games Went Both Ways for Justin Fields

Bears quarterback pronounced himself  a quarterback who rises to the big games and big moments and evidence backs him but there were plenty of times he couldn't do it as well.
Gene Chamberlain|
Big Games Went Both Ways for Justin Fields
Big Games Went Both Ways for Justin Fields

Shortly after being drafted by the Bears, Justin Fields classified himself as a quarterback who rises to the occasion.

"I feel like when big moments present themselves, I feel like there's just another thing that kicks inside of me," Fields said. "But I just think capitalizing in big moments and of course playing well on big stages. I think that's definitely one of my strengths for sure."

Bears coach Matt Nagy agreed with the assessment.

"A lot of that is just DNA," Nagy said. "It's what you believe in, it's what you've known, it's what you've done your whole life. 

"When he says that, it doesn't surprise me. But there's a lot of hard work that goes into that. When you have it in a natural way, it definitely helps you. He's shown to have that in big-time moments in his career."

One particular big moment Fields likes to recall is how he left the 2019 Michigan win with an apparent knee injury, then returned after four minutes of the game and threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Garrett Wilson to trigger a victory in his only matchup against the Wolverines.

"So of course that’s a big rivalry for us," Fields said. "Just the way my teammates went out there and of course a big play in the game was when I got hurt and of course came back in and threw a touchdown the next play. Just those plays. Just how big that game is to Ohio State and to our fans and to our community."

Every successful quarterback has moments of this type. Is Fields really the player who should be considered a clutch performer, someone successful at big moments or in big games?

The big moments

It's not entirely clear. He had his moments, sure, but plenty of his biggest games came against the weaklings of the Ohio State schedule. 

He also had moments when he struggled against good teams or good defenses. In some of those, he eventually got it done but it wasn't as if he dominated or ruled over opponents in those matchups.

Perhaps a more accurate description for Fields is he had a knack for figuring out how to get it done much of the time. The season-ending loss in the national title game against Alabama says he couldn't get it done against all odds.

There's no doubt Fields got the job done against Clemson in the national semifinals, the 49-28 win over rival Trevor Lawrence when he threw for six touchdowns, an interception and ran for 42 yards. It was easily his crowning achievement and testified to his big-game ability. 

He showed the same type of success the previous year in what might have been his second-best game, a 34-21 win in the Big Ten championship game over a strong Wisconsin defense. He threw for 299 yards and three touchdowns and rallied the Buckeyes back from a two-touchdown deficit on a day when the Badgers defense was not going to let him get out of the pocket and use his legs. He took five sacks in that game but still got the win. 

Another big win came over Michigan State in 2019, 34-10, when he completed 17 of 25 for 206 yards with two touchdowns and also ran for 61 yards and a TD. His second win over Michigan State last year was move evidence of finding a way to get the job done. The passing game wasn't working downfield as he threw for 199 yards but he used his legs and ran for 104 yards and two touchdowns in a win over a respectable opponent.

The struggles

On the other hand, there were big games where he really struggled besides the loss to an obviously more talented Alabama team this past season.

The Big Ten title game win over Northwestern may have shown Fields persevere.

He threw for only 114 yards on 12 of 27 for 114 yards and had to rely on his teammates to get the job done that day, which they did, in comeback fashion, 22-10.

In the 2019 Fiesta Bowl, he threw two interceptions, took four sacks and ran for only 13 yards against Clemson in a 29-23 loss that did include 320 yards passing. But those two interceptions were devastating. 

The win over Wisconsin in 2020 was another of those games when a good defense had him contained for 28 rushing yards and sacked him five times, but he persevered with two touchdown passes on only 167 passing yards and the Ohio State defense ruled the day.

Ultimately, it might be more accurate to say Fields has risen to the big moment at times but also encountered problems like any other quarterback. 

The process of developing in the NFL is an entirely new situation and for the Bears it's good to know he has shown these traits. 

They mean very little now.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven

Published
Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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