The fates of Justin Fields and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy seem intertwined.Or maybe they merely parallel each other. Perhaps they’ll actually run in drastically different paths after Sunday’s game.
Whatever, the two have spent the last two seasons trying to get the offense to work. In some ways they have. In others, not so much.
On Thursday before the final game of the season, the statistics all say it’s looking up but Getsy wasn’t tipping anything about the future of the working relationship with his QB, if he even knows it.
“We have a great relationship, we work really well together,” Getsy said of Fields. “He inspires me daily with his mentality, his focus, his faith, all that stuff. We have a really good relationship and I think Justin’s future is super bright.”
Is it super bright in Chicago, though? And if so, will it include Getsy?
It can’t hurt that the Bears are now 16th in scoring and 17th in yards gained after finishing 23rd in scoring and 28th in yards last year. They haven’t been this high in point production since they were ninth in 2018, or this high in yards since they were 15th in 2016 with Jay Cutler splitting quarterback duties while healthy with Matt Barkley and Brian Hoyer.
Remember, too, they did this with two wide receivers washing out on their own. Darnell Mooney hasn’t produced while Chase Claypool was a deteriment to the franchise as well as Ryan Poles’ trade record.
If first impressions are important, last impressions might be even moreso while evaluating a quarterback.
Fields put up a 99.5 passer rating last week and 268 passing yards against a team playing mostly man-to-man or man-to-man with single safety high. The Bears obviously enjoyed seeing that coverage because it gave injured DJ Moore a better chance to get free. It also let Fields to run opponents’ backs to him for a short time on plays, giving him a head start.
It hasn’t been the coverage type as much as the pressure applied that has caused Fields issues this year. Tampa Bay’s blitzing, Minnesota’s blitzing and the heavy rush by Cleveland and Kansas City disrupted Fields and the Bears offense.
Green Bay will be the ideal test to take a measure of Fields. He has to show he can handle disguised zones backed by a good pass rush.
“That’s the big thing that they do,” Getsy said. “They have an elite front. So you have this elite front that makes you not be able to hold the ball very long. And then you have these zone defenders—their eyes are the last on you and playing your game. That’s what they play into.”
Fields’ strength is the deeper pass. He’s less effective throwing under a zone or short.
“Then the few number of explosives these guys give up too—you’re not getting behind them,” Getsy said. “You have to be detailed and you have to be in time.
“Timing and rhythm is critical when you play zone defenses like this. The rest of the guys have to be on too—violent to the tuck, dropstep, getting vertical, all that stuff. Making sure we have good ball security. When you play these teams that have vision to the ball, the contact is gonna be right away.”
His passer rating against the Packers in five starts is a sub-par 72.8. He has four TD passes, seven interceptions, fumbled three times, was sacked 13 times and never got closer to beating them than a nine-point deficit.
If Fields is to be challenged by real final test of his abilities, perhaps Getsy will be, too. Then again, maybe Getsy isn’t in as hot of a seat as some people think.
Many of his play calls prior to the Arizona game met with severe fan scrutiny on social media or call-in shows. However, they’re averaging 24.5 points over the last six games and only two of those were offensive clunkers. They won one of those poor efforts.
Getsy said the points scored aren’t necessarily the measuring stick he uses to determine a good offense. Those who aren’t exactly Getsy fans would say they expected to hear this.
“Yeah and honestly I wouldn’t even look at it like that, as far as points,” he said. “I really don’t try to do that. You want to look at your execution. You want to make sure that you’re doing things that are fundamentally sound—are your players’ fundamentals where they’re supposed to be? Are you giving yourself a chance in every situation? And there’s areas we’ve got to improve on and there’s areas we’re dong well.”
Getsy had to admit points make a pretty bow around everything.
“The points make it look better,” he said. “But the wins are what we’re trying to get. And you have to win games a bunch of different ways in this league. It’s not always what Baltimore and what Miami had last week. Whatever. You dream of that for every game, but that’s not realistic in this game.
“When you’re gong to Lambeau Field you know you’re going in for a grimy game.”
It better not be too grimy, because it’s possible others, people who make the decisions after the year, use point production and quarterback statistics as factors to determine who stays and goes from the player and coaching ranks.
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