Justin Fields' Brilliance Has Fans Thrilled for Bears' Future Despite Loss vs. Eagles
December 18, 2022
Justin Fields continues to provide the Chicago Bears with a glimpse into the future, albeit in a losing effort.
The Philadelphia Eagles hung on for a 25-20 victory at Soldier Field in Chicago.
A breakdown in coverage by the Eagles secondary allowed Fields to hit Byron Pringle for a 35-yard touchdown pass to bring Chicago to within one score with two minutes, 43 seconds on the clock.
NFL @NFLFields finds a wide-open Byron Pringle! Back to a one-possession game in Chicago.<br><br>📺: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PHIvsCHI?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PHIvsCHI</a> on FOX<br>📱: Stream on NFL+ <a href="https://t.co/mzMHAEtgdH">https://t.co/mzMHAEtgdH</a> <a href="https://t.co/pVEgLmfOAc">pic.twitter.com/pVEgLmfOAc</a>
Philadelphia recovered the ensuing onside kick, though, and killed off the remaining time to secure their 13th win.
Fields finished 14-of-21 for 152 yards and two touchdowns while carrying the ball 15 times for 95 yards.
The Bears' 3-11 record and the six sacks the Eagles collected show how far Chicago still has to go. Between Fields' improvement and the roughly $122 million in projected salary-cap space it can spend for 2023, the franchise can potentially execute a significant turnaround.
Ryan Droste @ryandrosteBears vs. Eagles, Fields vs. Hurts, is going to be an epic NFC title game in the next 2-3 years. <br><br>Remember this tweet (if this site is still around). <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DaBears?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DaBears</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyEaglesFly?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyEaglesFly</a>
Sunday's game was also notable for Fields setting a single-season rushing record for a Bears quarterback and becoming the third QB to reach 1,000 rushing yards. After Week 14, he has run for exactly 1,000 yards.
As tough as this season has been, ask almost any Bears fan and they'll probably say they're more optimistic about the franchise's long-term direction than they were before the year kicked off. That's almost entirely down to Fields because Chicago might have a special talent at quarterback for the first time in a long time.
For now, things won't get any easier for Fields and the Bears in Week 16 as they host the 11-3 Buffalo Bills.