How can Chicago Bears QB Justin Fields carry over his recent success?

LAKE FOREST – Justin Fields is coming off the two best passing games of his NFL career. The Bears quarterback had the two highest passer rating marks of his career and the only four-touchdown games of his career against Denver in Week 4 and Washington in Week 5.

The run game was also rolling in both games, totaling more than 170 rushing yards in each contest. Overall, the offense was good in those games. Fields threw for a combined 617 yards and eight touchdowns with only one interception.

All offseason, Bears fans wondered if Fields could become the type of passing quarterback who dominates the NFL. His rushing abilities were well documented last year, but the passing attack needed to catch up. It’s only two games, but it’s possible Fields had a breakthrough in the last two weeks.

It’s a long season and he will have to prove it against better defenses, but it was a step in the right direction.

So what will it take for Fields to keep this going? Here are three keys to carrying over this passing success.

1. Play free

Bears quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko saw a quarterback who was playing, not thinking, over the past two weeks. That’s essentially what Fields said he needed to do more of three weeks ago when he called himself “robotic.”

He was no robot against Denver or Washington.

“He’s been trusting the training,” Janocko said. “Not that he never has, but I think we’re seeing a development. And that’s what we’re hoping for. A development with himself, a development within our scheme and then a development with the receivers.”

He’s been trusting the training. Not that he never has, but I think we’re seeing a development. And that’s what we’re hoping for. A development with himself, a development within our scheme and then a development with the receivers.”

—  Andrew Janocko, Bears QB coach

A clean pocket helps, and the offensive line has been much improved over the last two games. The return of Teven Jenkins and Nate Davis is a big part of that. But that has given Fields the freedom to read the field and pull the trigger on throws.

He has picked his spots as a runner. While he remains lethally dangerous as a scrambler, he did not need to rely on that to beat the Broncos or Commanders.

“I feel like I’m just playing ball, to be honest with you,” Fields said. “I’m playing ball, and the main thing is just being locked in.”

2. Keep finding Moore

Yes, the Bears want to keep developing second and third options in this offense behind star receiver DJ Moore. But until defenses find a way to stop Moore – who totaled 361 receiving yards and four touchdowns over the past two games – the Bears might as well keep throwing to him.

Certainly Darnell Mooney wasn’t upset that he finished last week’s game with zero catches. If Moore keeps going off like he did, that’s good for everyone.

“The offense was natural,” Mooney said. “That’s how we’ve been doing it for the past few weeks. Hopefully, we can continue to do that. That’s just a fun offense to be around. Everybody is talking about DJ having a good game, I didn’t get the ball much or whatever. I mean, we won the game. At the end of the day, that’s the main thing in this league is you won the game.”

Janocko mentioned that the elite quarterback-receiver combos are able to communicate without speaking. Each knows what the other is thinking. That’s what the Bears are trying to build with Fields and Moore.

“It’s going to happen,” Janocko said. “I think that’s a step in that direction.”

Good things happen when Moore touches the football. Keep throwing to him.

3. Attack early

Fields was in an unfamiliar position the last couple of weeks. His team scored and took early leads against both Denver and Washington. That allowed the offense to keep the playbook open. The Bears weren’t playing from behind, except for the final drive against Denver. They were balanced and successful both passing and running.

The Bears won the coin toss against Washington and head coach Matt Eberflus elected to receive the opening kickoff. That’s an aggressive move and it shows trust in the offense.

It worked for the Bears last week. They scored on the opening drive and never trailed against Washington. Fields talked this week about keeping the foot on the gas in the second half – which is a great point, too – but the Bears have been rolling in the first half two weeks in a row and need to keep that early aggression.

The success in the second half of games will come if the Bears keep playing their style of football.

“It’s about consistency, right?” Eberflus said. “And the guys have shown that. We’ve seen a really good trend in our practices with the connection, with the chemistry with Justin and the receivers, with the tight ends, with Cole [Kmet] and those guys too. It really is trending this way and we just feel that the consistency’s got to be there now.”