The hopes of the Chicago Bears are on the arm of Justin Fields in 2022.
He enters his second year with the team as the starting quarterback.
His first season saw him have some difficulties in the games he played.
It also saw him get injured and miss games.
Yet Bears fans hope Fields’ has a year like Joe Burrow had in his second season.
But that will prove difficult for Fields in 2022.
The Bears Offensive Line Was The Worst In 2021
Fields is on a team whose offensive line gave up the most sacks in the NFL for 2021.
Taking sacks doesn’t help the team, and neither does giving them up.
However, the Bears addressed that situation during free agency with the signing of Lucas Patrick.
Bears To Sign OL Lucas Patrick pic.twitter.com/ztC7giaMHN
— VCP Football (@VCPFootball) March 16, 2022
While that’s a start, they need more than Patrick to protect Fields in 2022.
The team tried to get more help with the offer they gave Ryan Bates.
However, the Bills would match that offer and keep him in Buffalo.
The missed opportunity hurt the Bears’ rebuilding of their front five.
Now the Bears must use the NFL Draft to address their needs.
However, they can’t pick until the second round to address those needs.
Fields Needs Top Notch Receivers To Help Him Make A Leap In 2022
Allen Robinson, the former number one guy in Chicago, moved on to Los Angeles.
Fields is now left without a top receiver to help him make a second-year leap like Burrow did in 2021.
However, the Bears signed some receivers during free agency.
But those receivers aren’t proven number one guys on the team.
The players the Bears got were Byron Pringle and Equanimeous St. Brown.
Pringle was a solid return man in Kansas City and also a good receiver in spots for them.
Kevin Harlan calling a Byron Pringle kick return TD is very much relevant to our interests pic.twitter.com/NJbCVHisse
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 25, 2020
St. Brown saw limited playing time when he was with the Green Bay Packers.
Fields has two guys to work with during the 2022 NFL season.
However, they could try to get one of the remaining free agent receivers still on the market.
A Julio Jones might help Fields, even though Jones is an older receiver.
But with what he has now, it’s going to be hard for Fields to make that second-year leap.
Fields Needs To Work On Accuracy And Protecting The Football
2021 saw Fields complete only 58.9% of his passes while throwing 10 interceptions.
While some of those incomplete passes were on dropped balls, he had others that he just missed the mark on altogether.
With the new coaching in Chicago, he needs to work with them on his accuracy and patience in the pocket.
Interceptions are some of the costly mistakes that hurt the Bears in 2021.
Putting your defense’s back against the wall doesn’t help them help the team.
You can’t win games if you’re giving up easy points to opponents.
The Bears gave up easy points for most of 2021 because of Fields’ mistakes.
If Fields cleans up those mistakes and works with his new receivers in the offseason, he might have some hope of a second-year leap.
NEXT: How Should Bears Fans View Former GM Ryan Pace?
zaq hancock says
if they get the right left tackle it might not be so bad like ya’ll said look @ what joe burrow did! n yr. two so we’ll see what is to the coaching staff i’m gonna call it truth or dare.