“He was very comfortable,” quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo said of Fields’ performance in a 33-22 loss to the 49ers on Sunday at Soldier Field.
Even with Fields’ big rushing game — 10 carries for 103 yards and a touchdown — the Bears still only had 148 net passing yards, tied for the 24th-lowest in the NFL this season.
What it did, though, was confirm how much the Bears have to work with in Fields, which now puts the onus on the coaching staff to parlay his talents into better offensive production.
Now, with Fields presumably unleashed, coach Matt Nagy, offensive coordinator Bill Lazor and DeFilippo have their best opportunity to show us what they can do.
You’re going to have to be disciplined in your rush lanes, which means that you just can’t run up the field on this guy.
As DeFilippo pointed out, the Steelers, seeing Fields run wild on film, can take that away on Monday night.
And whenever the player has that ability to take off and go on third-and-six or whatever, and you get a first down, you’re like, ‘Have at it, man.
The 49ers’ 467 yards were the most against the Bears’ defense in regulation since 2016 — 478 yards in a 41-21 loss to Kirk Cousins and Washington.
With Goldman getting more and more comfortable, the run game has diminished, dropping to 25th in the NFL in rushing yards allowed and yards per carry.
The Bears have allowed 154, 182 and 145 rushing yards in their last three games against the Packers, Buccaneers and 49ers — an average of 160.3 yards.
But even in a small way, it nonetheless helped the cause of every special-teams coach trying to get a head-coaching job in the NFL — including Tabor and perhaps his mentor, Dave Toub, the former Bears special-teams coordinator now with the Chiefs, who has been passed over for too many head-coaching jobs.
There was no hesitation in his decision-making, and sometimes that’s what can get you as a head coach or a decision-maker — if there’s hesitation.
Bits & Pieces: NFL teams were 9-0 this season with 37 minutes of possession or more in games decided in regulation until the Bears dominated time of possession 37:11 to 22:49 against the 49ers and lost.
A loyal Chicago Sun-Times subscriber virtually from the inception of the paper, my dad was my biggest fan and instilled in me a work ethic that has been invaluable.
The chef with a dizzying number of books, restaurants and TV shows was home in Cornwall, England, did a series of lives on Instagram cooking meals in 10 minutes or less.