1st-and-10: Justin Fields getting the next laugh

Bears general manager Ryan Poles was determined to “do right by” Justin Fields, and it appears he did.

Set on drafting Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall draft pick, Poles gave up some draft capital to put Fields in a favorable spot — a consideration for a player he respected that likely earned him points from players throughout the league.

Poles traded Fields to the Steelers, who had recently acquired aging veteran Russell Wilson, for a conditional sixth-round pick — bumped up to a fourth-round pick if Fields played more than half of the Steelers’ offensive snaps.

It looks like a win-win deal for Poles so far. With Wilson injured to start the season, Fields has started all three games and has played 100% of the Steelers’ offensive snaps (202 of 202).

But Bears fans are looking at other numbers — like Fields’ career-best 73.3% completion rate. Or his career-best 95.3 passer rating. Or his career-low 1.2% interception rate. Or his career-low 7.4% sack rate. Or his career-best 129.6 passer rating in the fourth quarter.

Or his career-best 3-0 record in the first three games of the season after completing 25 of 32 passes for 245 yards, a 55-yard touchdown to Calvin Austin, one interception and a 96.0 passer rating — plus a five-yard touchdown run — in a 20-10 victory over the Chargers on Sunday.

Hmmm …

The Bears and Poles are a long way from regret — the pace car doesn’t take the victory lap at the Indy 500, the winner does. But with Williams taking baby steps in another clunky Bears offense, Fields’ immediate efficiency has shined the light yet again on the Bears’ coaching staff, and why it takes so long for quarterbacks to get acclimated to anyone’s offensive system at Halas Hall.

Why is Fields completing 73.3% of his passes in his first three games with offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and Mike Tomlin when he completed 58.0% of his passes in his first three games last year under Luke Getsy and Matt Eberflus? Or 51.0% in his first three games in Getsy’s offense in 2022?

Fields already has three consecutive games with passer ratings over 90. He did that once in 38 starts with the Bears — in 2022 against the Cowboys, Dolphins and Lions.

The Bears went 0-3 in those games. They lost to the Cowboys 49-29 when the defense fell flat after Robert Quinn was traded. They lost to the Dolphins 35-32 when Equanimeous St. Brown dropped a fourth-down pass and Chase Claypool couldn’t get a pass interference call late in the game. They lost to the Lions 31-30 when Fields threw a pick-6 and Cairo Santos missed a late PAT. There’s always something.

With the Steelers, Fields suddenly is leading a charmed life. The offense has four touchdowns and 51 points in three games, yet Fields is 3-0. Both his fumbles were recovered by the Steelers.

Receivers have two drops — only nine teams have fewer — and nothing as damaging as the Robert Tonyan and Darnell Mooney drops against the Browns last year that seemed to typify Fields’ luck with the Bears. Fields’ 129.6 rating in the fourth quarter leads the NFL. He was last among starting quarterbacks with the Bears last year (53.4).

It’s still early, and while most if not all Bears fans are rooting for Fields to succeed, Williams still is on track — albeit a slower one than expected — to be the better quarterback. But more than ever, it seems like the answer to the chronic question of culpability for the Fields failure — Fields or the coaching staff — is more clear than ever. It was both.

2. Here We Go Again Dept.: All rookie quarterbacks take a different path, but why do Bears rookies always seem to take the longer one?

A year after C.J. Stroud passed for 4,108 yards with a 100.8 passer rating as a rookie starter with a first-year coordinator in Bobby Slowik, the Commanders’ Jayden Daniels is finding immediate success as a rookie in the first year of a new offense under coordinator Kliff Kingsbury — a “senior analyst” with USC and Williams last season.

Daniels, the No. 2 pick of the 2024 draft behind Williams, completed 21 of 23 passes for 254 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions for a 141.7 passer rating to out-duel Joe Burrow in the Commanders’ 38-33 victory over the Bengals on Monday Night Football.

Daniels has completed 61 of 76 passes in his first three NFL games — his 80.3% completion rate in the first three games of the season is second-best of all-time behind Drew Brees (80.6% in 2018).

For what it’s worth, Williams has completed 70 of 118 with the Bears (59.3%).

3. The biggest red flag for the Bears’ offense under offensive coordinator Shane Waldron was their 68 rushing yards on 28 attempts Sunday against a Colts team that had allowed 261 rushing yards on 51 attempts versus the Packers the previous week. And after focusing on establishing the run game all week.

The Colts’ defense had allowed 15 rushing plays of 10 or more yards coming into the game — the most in the first two games of the season in the NFL since the 2008 Lions (on their way to 0-16). The Bears had zero. Roschon Johnson’s nine-yard run in the fourth quarter (with the Bears trailing 21-9) was their longest run.

This could take awhile, if it ever happens. The run game doesn’t come naturally to Waldron’s offense. His teams in Seattle had the fourth-fewest carries in the NFL in his three seasons as coordinator.

That’s a big difference from Getsy, who came from an offense in Green Bay that emphasized the run, even with Aaron Rodgers. And it showed. The Bears led the NFL in rushing attempts (546 per season) in Getsy’s two seasons as coordinator.

4. The offensive line in Waldron’s offense has been the biggest disappointment of the first three games. Last year under Getsy, Bears running backs averaged 4.4 yards per carry in the first three games (45 carries, 199 yards). This year, they’re averaging 2.4 yards per carry (58-141).

D’Andre Swift has 37 carries for 68 yards (1.8 average). In his first three starts with the Eagles last season, he had 58 carries for 361 yards (6.2 average) and two touchdowns.

5. At its current rate, continuity might not even help the offensive line, but it’s proving elusive. The starting lineup of Braxton Jones, Teven Jenkins, Coleman Shelton, Matt Pryor and Darnell Wright — with Pryor replacing Nate Davis — was the Bears’ 20th different starting combination in 37 games under Eberflus and line coach Chris Morgan, and the 45th different combination overall, including in-game changes.

6. The Colts game was a new low for Eberflus in terms of preparedness and coaching impact. Williams and DJ Moore miscommunicated on the very first pass of the game — a scripted play that generally is worked on in practice — leading to an incompletion.

On seven plays after time outs, the Bears gained a net of minus-1 yard — including the botched third-and-goal rush for no gain by Khalil Herbert, the ill-conceived fourth-and-goal option play that followed and the failed two-point conversion after a time out the Bears should not have had to call. Tough day at the office for Eberflus and his staff.

7. Caleb Williams is still Caleb Williams. As discouraging as the Bears’ 21-16 loss to the Colts was, the Bears still have a better quarterback prospect than they did with Mitch Trubisky or Justin Fields. And with the best weapons when Keenan Allen is healthy.

But as it stands now, the offensive line — and Waldron’s awkward managing of the offensive scheme — nullifies the notion that this is the best situation a No. 1 overall pick has ever entered the league with. If the Bears need Williams to make an offensive coordinator out of Waldron, it very likely will not end well. It has to be the other way around.

8. Quick Hits: The Bears’ defense has allowed 21 or fewer points in nine consecutive games — longest active streak in the NFL. … Rome Odunze (six receptions, 112 yards, one touchdown) is the first Bears rookie with 100-plus yards since Anthony Miller in 2018. … The Bears’ offense ran 10 plays for 27 yards, with one first down, after Bears takeaways against the Colts. … 152 of Williams’ 363 passing yards came on end-of-half drives, including the 44-yard Hail Mary that Moore caught. … Packers quarterback Malik Willis is second in the NFL in passer rating (122.7) after two starts. … The Bears are 1-11 when their quarterback has 50-plus passes in regulation — Jack Concannon in 1970 is the only winner.

9. Ex-Bears Player of the Week — Panthers quarterback Andy Dalton completed 26 of 37 passes for 319 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions for a 123.6 rating in a 36-22 victory over the Raiders at Allegiant Stadium. The Panthers had scored 10 and three points in their first two games with Bryce Young at quarterback.

10. Bear-ometer — 7-10: vs. Rams (W); vs. Panthers (W); vs. Jaguars in London (L); at Commanders (L); at Cardinals (L); vs. Patriots (W); vs. Packers (L); vs. Vikings (W); at Lions (L); at 49ers (L); at Vikings (L); vs. Lions (W); vs. Seahawks (W); at Packers (L).