2021 wasn’t the season the Chicago Bears and quarterback Justin Fields had in mind.
Both he and the team saw many issues, leading the Bears to a 6-11 record last season.
However, there are reasons behind those issues.
Some came from the struggles Fields had as a rookie QB that season.
But there are reasons behind his struggles in the 2021 NFL season.
So what are the three reasons behind him struggling last season?
3. Fields Couldn’t Read Defensive Pressure Properly
A deep story is found behind the offensive line issues in Chicago during the 2021 season.
One story shows a team who allowed the most sacks in 2021.
However, another story shows an offensive line that wasn’t as bad as those sack numbers tell fans.
And if you want more stats to support this. Jets had a pass block win rate of 61% and Bears had a top 6 pass block win rate at 66%. This means their lineman held their blocks for a minimum of 2.5 seconds 66% of the time.
— Quickdropz (@quickdropz618) May 17, 2022
If the offensive line is holding their blocks for this time, why was the line allowing so many sacks?
This means the problem comes from Fields indecisiveness and his poor reading of defensive pressure.
Fields was cluelessly indecisive/slow to process. Anyone who watched every game and hasn’t turned him into a virtue signal knows it. The eye test shows the bears offensive line was no worse than average pass blocking and the numbers more than support it
— Benevenstanciano (@buckhugh2) February 21, 2022
Instead of making pocket passes, he left that pocket his offensive line created.
This led to him needlessly running out of the pocket, creating sacks for the defense.
If the Bears offensive line can keep good pass blocking win rates up, Fields will only need to have better pocket awareness.
However, him not having this awareness will lead to those same 2021 struggles yet again.
2. Fields Best Receiver Was Playing With An Injury
When your top receiver isn’t playing his best because of an injury, it hurts the team.
That’s what the Bears saw with Allen Robinson for 2021.
After dealing with an ankle injury, many felt he was giving up on the field.
Allen Robinson hurt his ankle and quite literally stopped running routes. That is absolutely not what happened last year.
(and this is still ignoring EVERY situation of a good fantasy player from team with below average QB's)
— Jake From StateFarm® (@Parry_FF) August 27, 2022
In a game against Green Bay, passes intended for him got intercepted, with some feeling he was to blame.
I watched a breakdown of those two interceptions Fields had against Green Bay, and they were both to Robinson on routes that he COMPLETELY gave up on. The dude just stopped running before the whistle, like what the hell are you doin dude?!?! pic.twitter.com/46ljOVIVW9
— That's Sox Baseball (@ThatsBearsFB) November 2, 2021
With an issue like this, it was causing Fields to struggle.
Had Robinson been healthy, the struggles of the Bears QB might not exist.
However, there’s one last problem that is to blame for his struggles during the 2021 season.
1. Matt Nagy Provided Poor Play Calls For Fields
If you don’t get the correct play calls, games will end poorly.
When Fields was thrown into a game against the Cleveland Browns in 2021, he got the worst play calling ever.
Play action and he doesn’t even have enough time to see his receivers before he’s sacked
This will be a common theme, bears kept calling play actions that didn’t fool anyone and the browns kept getting constant pressure. pic.twitter.com/67SfNcMhJP
— JC (@JcGotNext) September 27, 2021
With no one fooled by the play calling of Matt Nagy, the result was their quarterback struggling all game.
However, the poor management by Nagy with play calling extended throughout the 2021 season.
These mistakes led the team to losing games and for their QB to fail.
But now Fields has an all-new coaching staff that’s working with him.
While he needs to learn a new system, he now has coaches who are competent .
With Nagy gone, this biggest struggle for Fields might be behind him.
However, if the new coaches in Chicago are no better than Nagy, those struggles will continue.
But with Fields doing well during the preseason, fans are hoping all these struggles are behind their QB.
This is a new season and fans want a much better year out of the second year quarterback for 2022.
NEXT: The Bears Are Taking A Chance On A Troubled Lineman