The Draw Play

The Bears handling of the QB situation so far has been…weird. Signing Dalton was one thing, kind of a questionable move when QB was a huge need but the free agency market doesn’t exactly give you the top echelon of QB talent to work with. When they drafted Fields everything made sense. You got the guy. Dalton is insurance. But then the Bears just…wouldn’t confirm anything and have been wishy-washy about it for weeks.

Bears fans, and honestly most NFL fans overall probably wanted Fields to start. Dalton is a known quantity and Fields is the future. In a different scenario, keeping Fields on the bench and starting Dalton would make some sense, similar to Mahomes under Smith or what the 49ers are currently doing with Trey Lance under Jimmy G. But unlike the 49ers, the Bears coaching staff are not in a comfortable place where they can afford to trot Andy “The Dalton Line” Dalton out there and give Fields a chance. Nagy and company should have been let go last year, all things considered. If Nagy wants to save his job, he has to win. He has to make progress. Dalton isn’t progress. Dalton is a stop-gap for a coach who doesn’t have the luxury of a stop-gap year.

But honestly, I kind of wonder if they promised Dalton something, either in contract or behind the scenes, because they seemed determined to trot Andy out there and make it his team when he’s clearly not the answer. Even more, I wonder if Nagy didn’t want Fields and is angry he’s stuck in this position, being forced to play a QB he didn’t like and wasn’t planning for. It certainly felt that way when Nagy was forced to start Fields after Dalton went down with an injury. The Browns game was one of the worst offensive performances any of us have ever seen. A lot of people were speculating that Nagy basically threw the game because he didn’t want to start Fields. I don’t know if I buy that, but I do buy that Matt Nagy is absolutely terrible at offensive playcalling and game planning and that everything just came to a head in Cleveland. Nagy quietly handed playcall duties to Bill Lazor against the Lions and the offense looked functional. Nagy didn’t tell anyone he did this, some reporters correctly speculated it and called him out, then Nagy acknowledged it and refused to answer more questions. Nagy would be #1 on the hot seat right now if the Bears ever fired a coach mid-season and Urban Meyer wasn’t spending his hot seat with hot coeds.

After more absurd waffling it appears Fields is the starter this weekend and barring injury, should be going forward. Feels like the pressure won out and now Justin can settle in and do his thing. As an NFL fan, I’m happy to see it. Dalton is boring and sucks. Fields is new! Maybe he will suck, but at least now he can get good reps and practice, and maybe be good. As a Giants fan, I hope the team crashes and burns so we get a high pick thanks to the Fields trade.