Fields Has Some Learning to DO...

[Mongo3451]

In re-watching the game I noticed an RPO that Fields missed on 4th and two.  It was actually a beautiful play by Nagy and was perfectly executed by everyone but the rookie.  The defender makes the play along the red line.  Fields misses the read.  If he pulls the ball and follows Ridley it's a possible TD.  Look for this play in the future.

Side note:  Jason Peters is still a stud.  His feet are amazingly agile for a man his size.  He also had zero issues getting to the second level.  Praying father time holds off one more year.

[Mongo3451]

This is the end of the play. Imagine the keep...

[Bill]

Or the running back kicked it outside to the left.  Don't know what hole he saw.

[adam]

Good call Mongo.  It looks like the O-Line got pushed back several yards. On an RPO, they need to at least stand their ground. That made the 4th and 2 into a 4th and 4.

[killakrzydav]

Meh, I think the right backer crashing influenced this read. Said backer is free along with that clusterfuck at slot receiver and 88 disengaging from his assignment to set up a drive killing illegal crack back block.

The stills don't show a potential TD nor a conversion to me. I think I'd rather the back have the ball on 4-2 in the preseason rather than the franchise savior trying to keep the drive alive with his feet.  

[Mongo3451]

3 hours ago, killakrzydav said:

The stills don't show a potential TD nor a conversion to me. I think I'd rather the back have the ball on 4-2 in the preseason rather than the franchise savior trying to keep the drive alive with his feet.  

The stills were from paused video on my DVR, which I watched about ten times before taking them.  I can assure you that it was a good play.

Opinions aside, it was a RPO and Fields was drafted to run them.  Trubisky couldn't make the right decision, so they had to take the RPO out of his repertoire.  

[AZ54]

Lots of learning remains.  While it's easy to see his talent is above that of any QB we've ever seen in a Bears uniform but I"m not sure what people were seeing in the preseason that would make them feel he was comfortable with the playbook.  I always hoped he'd be ready somewhere around Week 4 or 5.   I think he'll be quite a bit better tomorrow than he was last week because while he did struggle in the preseason you could see him learning what defenses were doing and improving over the course of a game.  

[AZ54]

 

JT Sullivan is correct on the details but this analysis gives more reason for hope as it focuses more on the play recognition and less on the fundamentals of the position.  There were quite a few positives to his performance. 

I say the combination of these two analyses is a fair breakdown for where Fields is at as a QB right now.  As he gains experience and the game slows down for him  the fundamentals and pocket presence he displayed before should naturally return.  Or you could just sum it up simply as he's thinking too much right now. 

 

[adam]

If Fields struggles, Nagy should be fired. He did not give Fields enough reps with the 1s in the offseason, then made him the scout QB, which had him running the other team's offenses the last two weeks.

Hopefully, a week of prep will be enough, but right now he is weeks behind Lawrence, Jones, and Wilson in terms of experience since they have been running with the 1s for 2+ months now.

[AZ54]

49 minutes ago, adam said:

If Fields struggles, Nagy should be fired. He did not give Fields enough reps with the 1s in the offseason, then made him the scout QB, which had him running the other team's offenses the last two weeks.

Hopefully, a week of prep will be enough, but right now he is weeks behind Lawrence, Jones, and Wilson in terms of experience since they have been running with the 1s for 2+ months now.

Why stunt the growth of the rest of the offensive players, many who are also new to the team, waiting on a rookie QB to learn it when you have a veteran who has quickly mastered it, can help everyone else get lined up, and call protections, etc.?   Then we had the Oline disaster throughout training camp so it was a mystery how that would look in game 1.  I'm good with them getting the rest of the offense ready as fast as possible.  Get the car tuned up, cleaned up,  and fueled up, and when the rookie is ready to drive hand him the keys.  The last thing I wanted to see was Fields behind a confused Oline especially when Fields doesn't know enough to help set protections.  

They didn't totally abandon Fields, he was getting snaps in game 1 and then more snaps in game 2 before Dalton got injured.  It was clear the path forward was to get Fields game experience with the 1's and ramp him up as quickly as possible.  I'm sure that plan included more first team practice snaps as he earned it.  He was shaky last week and mostly issues reading the defense (see the endzone passes/INT).  His passing accuracy was good for the most part so I don't think that timing was much of an issue.

By the way didn't running that scout D mean he was getting snaps against the first string defense?  I see the case where they wanted to use that platform to help him learn how to read defenses.  What takes longer to learn:  Reading NFL defenses or getting in sync with ARob, Mooney, and the Oline?  I don't know how NFL practices are run but if the 1st team D is doing their thing against the scout team at the same time the 1st team offense is doing their thing on another field he can't be in both places at once.  Isn't this why traditionally the 3rd string QB runs the scout team offense so the starting QB and backup (10% snaps) are working on the game plan plays?  I think his timing with the offense will come together quickly since he played with elite athletes at OSU he just needs to know where to go with the ball a little quicker.  

[adam]

8 hours ago, AZ54 said:

Why stunt the growth of the rest of the offensive players, many who are also new to the team, waiting on a rookie QB to learn it when you have a veteran who has quickly mastered it, can help everyone else get lined up, and call protections, etc.?   Then we had the Oline disaster throughout training camp so it was a mystery how that would look in game 1.  I'm good with them getting the rest of the offense ready as fast as possible.  Get the car tuned up, cleaned up,  and fueled up, and when the rookie is ready to drive hand him the keys.  The last thing I wanted to see was Fields behind a confused Oline especially when Fields doesn't know enough to help set protections.  

They didn't totally abandon Fields, he was getting snaps in game 1 and then more snaps in game 2 before Dalton got injured.  It was clear the path forward was to get Fields game experience with the 1's and ramp him up as quickly as possible.  I'm sure that plan included more first team practice snaps as he earned it.  He was shaky last week and mostly issues reading the defense (see the endzone passes/INT).  His passing accuracy was good for the most part so I don't think that timing was much of an issue.

By the way didn't running that scout D mean he was getting snaps against the first string defense?  I see the case where they wanted to use that platform to help him learn how to read defenses.  What takes longer to learn:  Reading NFL defenses or getting in sync with ARob, Mooney, and the Oline?  I don't know how NFL practices are run but if the 1st team D is doing their thing against the scout team at the same time the 1st team offense is doing their thing on another field he can't be in both places at once.  Isn't this why traditionally the 3rd string QB runs the scout team offense so the starting QB and backup (10% snaps) are working on the game plan plays?  I think his timing with the offense will come together quickly since he played with elite athletes at OSU he just needs to know where to go with the ball a little quicker.  

I understand the thought behind getting the line straight first, but the QB is a big component of protections and timing. Jason Peters had an interview talking about how he has to play differently with a mobile QB vs a standard pocket passer. So even if the line is solid for Dalton, that doesn't mean they will be in sync with Fields, especially with the lack of experience with him. 

Another example would be compared to my time in the Army, as a young soldier, you had to learn a ton of very basic tasks and do them over and over. Eventually, you did team/group tasks that had you doing one piece of the entire puzzle. Regardless of how good you were, the minute those teams were changed, you were basically at square one again because you had to adapt to the new team member, their strengths and weaknesses, and the timing. This feels very similar.

The team and Nagy did Fields no favors last week. He was not expected to play, which was obvious outside the few plays they built for him. The mistakes are all correctable. Burrows had a very similar INT with the LB dropping into coverage. The difference was Fields hot read was to that side, so that is on the play design as much as it was on Fields to recognize it. He almost lost a fumble, but didn't. So now he gets a learning point to hold the ball with two hands at all times. He is not going to get touched in practice, so that is the only way to learn that. If ARob doesn't look like Wims and Kmet is not called for OPI, Fields magically has decent stats. The false starts will be corrected. That is the timing issue with the 1s and Mustipher. He was expected the ball immediately, but Mustipher was on different timing. Again, very correctable. 

For the Scout Team, yes Fields plays against the #1 Defense, but in a different language. That would be like learning German in Spain, then being expected to speak fluent Spanish. From what I researched, all teams use different QBs to run the Scout Team. Some teams use PS QB to do it. Some only have 2 QBs on the roster, so the backup runs it.

There are too many variables to have a QB learn every nuance of every play and coverage before playing. On any given play a team can bring an extra man from the corner, off the edge, inside the tackles, etc, and from any position. They can fake blitz, drop back into coverage, send the house, etc. There is not enough time to practice every combination of those. The only way to get better is with experience and game reps. I would rather have swings on the actual golf course than on the driving range. Now Fields gets both.

There is a huge fallacy about sitting QBs is best for long-term success. The stats just don't back it up. Good QBs are good QBs because they are good. Peyton Manning was going to be good if he started game 1 or sat on the bench for 2 years. David Carr was not going to be a good QB, regardless of how good or bad his O-Line was. Mahomes would've won the SB his rookie year if they played him over Smith.

 

[AZ54]

12 hours ago, adam said:

 

There is a huge fallacy about sitting QBs is best for long-term success. The stats just don't back it up. Good QBs are good QBs because they are good. Peyton Manning was going to be good if he started game 1 or sat on the bench for 2 years. David Carr was not going to be a good QB, regardless of how good or bad his O-Line was. Mahomes would've won the SB his rookie year if they played him over Smith.

 

I agree on this which is why I never advocated for Fields to sit the bench the entire year.  He still has to know enough to be out there.  I don't think he's far off and he'll be helped quite a bit being at home next week.  

[adam]

22 hours ago, adam said:

If Fields struggles, Nagy should be fired. He did not give Fields enough reps with the 1s in the offseason, then made him the scout QB, which had him running the other team's offenses the last two weeks.

Hopefully, a week of prep will be enough, but right now he is weeks behind Lawrence, Jones, and Wilson in terms of experience since they have been running with the 1s for 2+ months now.

This is all on Nagy, he should be fired for negligence. His handling of Fields is borderline criminal.  One screen pass all game. Monty had 10 carries total. Where were the easy dink and dunk plays? Rollouts, bootlegs, moving the pocket? That was the worst coached game I think I have ever seen firsthand. It was embarrassing. Zero adjustments. The O-Line was getting manhandled because the plays were so predictable. All they had to do was run straight at Fields as fast as they could. Nothing made them stop or go lateral all game. 

I almost feel like Nagy did this on purpose so he can bring Dalton back next week. If Dalton plays again this year, Nagy has to be fired. I am ready for a new HC.

[killakrzydav]

This is painful to read that our coach is this incompetent