Justin Fields Key Plays in 2023 - Week 1 vs Green Bay

Play 1

1st Quarter

2nd & 10

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The Bears are in 11 personnel with Fields in the shotgun and a running back in the sidecar position. Fields has one of his receivers motion to their left.

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Image from NFL Game Pass

All of the Bears receivers are covered. Fields reads the right side and checks it down to Herbert who is leaking out of the backfield. Herbert takes it upfield for a gain of 19 yards. Fields makes a good decision here by getting the football to the safety valve who has space in front of him to make a play.

Play 2

1st Quarter

1st & 10

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The Bears are in 11 personnel with Fields in the shotgun and a running back in the sidecar position. Fields has the tight end shift to the backside to provide blocking.

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Darnell Mooney is running what appears to be a deep out route. The play action draws in the second level defenders and leaves Mooney one on one with the defensive back who then passes him off to the Safety over the top.

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Fields is moving the pocket to his right on a bootleg play. He does one pump fake before passing the football to Mooney for a gain of 23 yards.

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Image from NFL Game Pass

A nice off platform play here by Justin Fields. He holds the ball and sees the cornerback pass off Mooney to the Safety who is a good 6 to 7 yards away. Mooney gets behind the corner and heads outside the numbers. Fields sees the window and launches the ball into the waiting arms of his receiver for a big gain.

Play 3

2nd Quarter

3rd & 7

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Chicago is in 11 personnel with Fields in the shotgun and a tight end shift to the right.

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Initially showing man coverage the right side defensive back comes on a corner blitz which flushes Fields out of the pocket.

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Image from NFL Game Pass

Fields tucks the football and takes it up the middle for a gain of 10 yards. Fields' athleticism is on display here. He spins off of the blitzing corner in the backfield, cuts it back inside and nearly makes Preston Smith miss even though he gets just enough of Fields' leg to bring him down. Fields has the size, agility, power and speed to make big plays with his feet.

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It's possible that Fields had two shots he could have made here. The receiver on the middle hash marks running a curl route was probably open even though he had a defender over the top about 5 yards away. Maybe this is a bad throw because the defender is too close but if the receiver keeps running toward the sideline or even back to the quarterback a bit then it's possible that Fields can get the ball to him? The far receiver just inside the numbers running a deep curl route might have been open although that would have been a tougher throw. Fields has the ability to make that pass since we've seen him make cross body throws before. He certainly has the arm strength to do it.

Play 4

2nd Quarter

1st & 10

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Chicago is in 21 personnel with Fields in the pistol formation and a running back to his left and another back behind him. Fields hits D.J. Moore on a slant route for 14 yards. On this play the ball is coming out fast. The Packers are getting pressure with five and once Fields gets to his back foot the ball is out and into the outstretched hands of Moore who gets a nice gain on first down. Fields takes a big hit on this play but he steps into the throw and hits Moore in stride. A nice job of neutralizing the Green Bay pass rush, taking the hit and converting on first down by getting the ball to your playmaker.

Play 5

2nd Quarter

3rd & 7

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Fields is in the shotgun and has an empty backfield on third down. Chicago is in 11 personnel with what appears to be trips right. Despite the negative of not being able to convert on third down here, Fields does showcase his playmaking ability to pick up 10 yards.

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The Packers get pressure as no. 95 splits the right tackle and right guard and gets through the B gap into the backfield.

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Fields' athleticism is on full display during this play. With a defensive lineman in his face and reaching for the football, Fields does a good job of protecting the ball as he dips the football and moves it away from the defender.

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Image from NFL Game Pass

Fields is shifty when he changes direction as he uses his agility here to make another defender miss in the backfield. With the ball tucked he heads upfield and initiates contact with a defensive back who finally brings him down at the 20. Positive yards after the play breaks down through ball security, athleticism and initiating contact.

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It's possible that Fields has two options underneath with the tight end and running back. Of course this only works if the right guard doesn't allow pressure from 95. Fields' playmaking ability when he takes off is a critical aspect of the Bears offense.

Play 6

3rd Quarter

2nd & 9

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Image from NFL Game Pass

Image from NFL Game Pass

Chicago is in 11 personnel with Fields in the shotgun and a running back in the sidecar position on the left. Initially the tight end shifts to the slot position but after seeing the alignment of the defensive end, Fields motions for the tight end to come in and block 91 who is now in a 9 technique. The running back also shifts to the right of Fields and stays in to help double team 91. Despite pressure from the front side interior Fields is able to get the football out. A high arching pass to Darnell Mooney results in a 20 yard touchdown. Mooney is running a corner route off of a switch release and Fields puts enough touch on the ball that it gets over the head of the defensive back and into the waiting arms of his wide receiver. Mooney also has enough separation to where the defender is unable to make a play on the football. Making pre snap adjustments, passing in the face of pressure and a late 3rd quarter touchdown throw to an open receiver.

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Image from NFL Game Pass

One additional note about this play. After the snap, Fields keeps his eyes down the middle of the field long enough to hold the safety and underneath defender. This keeps them from the playside of the field where Mooney is left one on one with a defensive back. His eyes freeze the defenders and allows a big play touchdown for the Bears.

Play 7

4th Quarter

2nd & 3rd

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Chicago is in 11 personnel with a running back in the sidecar position to the right of Fields. Seeing that he has no options with everyone covered, Fields takes off and attacks the right edge. He picks up 7 yards and a first down, beating two closing defenders to the sticks. Fields shows that he has the size to run through traffic up the middle and the speed to attack the edge and outrun defenders.

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It looks like Fields has an option here on the left side of the field. He only reads the right side and takes off running so he doesn't see that he has an open receiver to the left. The receiver on the playside just inside the numbers is probably too tight of a window with the defender closing in from over the top.