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Justin Fields’ coaching comments: Earlier in the week, Fields made comments on his play, which some took as him throwing his coaches under the bus. Fields told the media that the reason why he has been thinking too much is due to overthinking due to “coaching,” and said that they want him to stay in the pocket. Fields told to the media that he’d “be himself” against the Chiefs, but that didn’t change much. Fields moved around more and looked similar to 2022 Justin Fields, but still, it was a rough performance. He finished the game 11-for-22 with 99 passing yards, one passing touchdown and 47 rushing yards.
Matt Eberflus as defensive coordinator: This past week has been a weird week at Halas Hall. Many conflicting rumors came out as defensive coordinator Alan Williams parted ways with the team. Williams cited “health reasons” as his reason for resignation. With Williams gone, instead of promoting an interim defense coordinator, Eberflus took over the defensive play-calling duties for a second straight week. The defense has seemingly taken a step back. In fairness to the Eberflus, they played one of the best offenses in the NFL – but it wasn’t competitive.
Still no offensive identity: Whether Fields is coached to be a strict pocket passer or is allowed to move freely, things aren’t changing. There is no consistency in play-calling, Luke Getsy is abandoning the rushing game too quickly, and all of their offensive problems are compounding into losses. For this offense to be successful, they need to be able to run the ball successfully. In 2022, they ran the ball more than half of the time. This season, it’s a third of the time. Fields is struggling in the passing game, and with no help on the ground, things are going to continue to be the same.
