The Bears are having a miserable season.
But there’s one big reason to smile in Chicago. His name is Justin Fields. The second-year quarterback continued his breakout campaign on Sunday with one of the more remarkable runs you’ll ever see on a football field. Sadly for the Bears, it didn’t propel them to victory in a 25-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
With Chicago facing second-and-27 in the second quarter, the Bears looked primed for more lost yardage when linebacker Haason Reddick got a hold of Fields in the backfield. Fields had other ideas. He slipped out of Reddick’s grasp then sprinted toward the left sideline with open field in front of him. He then juked past linebacker T.J. Edwards and ran past the first-down marker. He wasn’t done.
Fields evaded two more Eagles defenders then spun out of an attempted tackle by cornerback James Bradberry and into the end zone for what looked like a 48-yard touchdown.
Sadly for Fields, replay showed he stepped out of bounds at the 9-yard line. The score was negated. But David Montgomery took it in for a 9-yard touchdown run on the next play.
It was an electric play, the kind of which has made Fields the most dangerous running quarterback in football on a Bears team that leads the NFL in rushing. He’s one of football’s best runners, period. He entered Sunday as the NFL’s ninth-leading rusher with 905 yards while averaging a league-best 7.1 yards per attempt.
He’s registering with advanced metrics as well. Per NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Fields had a less-than 1% chance of gaining a first down on the play.
Unfortunately for the Bears, Fields’ breakout hasn’t made an impact in the standings. Their loss on Sunday dropped them to 3-11, the worst record in the NFC.
They kept things close against the 13-1 Eagles thanks to two interceptions of Jalen Hurts and Fields’ play. He showed off his arm in a late rally effort with a 35-yard touchdown pass to Byron Pringle to cut Chicago’s deficit to five points.
But the Eagles ran out the clock on their ensuing possession to secure the win. Fields finished the day completing 14-of-21 passes for 152 yards with two touchdowns. His 95 yards on the ground puts him at exactly 1,000 rushing yards on the season. He joined Michael Vick and Lamar Jackson as the only quarterbacks in NFL history to reach the milestone. He didn’t turn the ball over.
It’s the kind of effort that provides something Bears fans haven’t experienced in a long time — hope at quarterback. If Chicago hits on its stash of draft picks, that hope could extend to contention in the NFC North.