What Failed Finish Says for Justin Fields

Analysis: At 0-for-6 in late-game situations, it seems Justin Fields hasn't lost the confidence of his coach but the GM is the one who matters now.

The debate has raged on over the first interception Justin Fields threw Sunday, a route he called a "dig" route but one called a "curl" route by receiver Equanimeous St. Brown.

Coach Matt Eberflus called it a dig route as well. 

According to normal football parlance, on a dig route a receiver does a hard stop after selling the DB he is going deeper, then does a sharp 90-degree turn toward the sideline and the quarterback fires the ball at the spot the receiver needs to be.

Anyone who saw the replay will know if it was a dig route, St. Brown didn't execute it correctly. His approach was more of a gradual slowdown and fuzzy turn to the left. Jaire Alexander was the sharp one. He came up hard and made the pick.

However, St. Brown insisted Monday it was a curl route and a curl. A curl is more of a hard cutback toward the QB at a 45-degree angle on the run rather than the 90-degree angle of a dig. 

It all sounds like someone didn't know what was expected or planned.

Whatever it was, this once again ruined Fields' chance to get the Bears a late comeback win. Eberflus is hardly discouraged about Fields' six straight failures at doing this so far this season.

"Like I said before, I think it's time on task," Eberflus said. "The linebackers were squeezing in to the checkdown on that play. There was a wide open window there for him to rip that throw in there, that timing throw.

"So it's just the rhythm and timing of it and it's the connection between the receiver and the quarterback. It has to be good there."

The completion would have put the Bears in field goal range, provided Cairo Santos could actually make a 40-yarder. 

It also would have let them wipe out all of Green Bay's timeouts. It would not have beaten the Packers, as the Bears would have needed another first down after that pass to do this.  The Bears easily could have lost the game anyway, considering their own defense's inability to stop the Packers when it really mattered. Without one more first down after the pass, Aaron Rodgers would have had around two minutes left to simply get them in field goal range.

The real issue that matters here is whether Fields actually can get the Bears a win with a drive late in a game and Eberflus says the affirmative.

"And I would say yes, I believe that to be true," he said. "I know the man inside after being with him for a year and the grit he has and the talent he has. No question he's going to get it done."

Fields has already shown he can do this even is he is 0-for-6 this season. 

Last year he led the Bears to the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter against Pittsburgh, but the Bears defense squandered the drive by letting Ben Roethlisberger counter with a march to the game-ending field goal.

Eberflus called being able to finish those late-game drives more than merely the quarterback, but rather the entire offense operating in sync.  The two-minute drill actually looked improved over what he had been witnessing.

"I thought the two-minute operation was much better, to me, in terms of the operation of it," Eberflus said. "It looked crisp, it looked clean, pocket was clean, ball was out on time when you look at both of those drives. And to me, it looked a lot better."

The long-term positive from all of this is it was another game when Eberflus came away talking about Fields and the team's future.

"To me, it's all 11 (players), and again, certainly our quarterback is running the huddle, he's running the plays and he'll be a big instrumental part to our success in the future," Eberflus said. "We're getting him in those situations and he's doing a good job."

Finishing one of these drives might ease general fears about Fields, but until then the fact Fields has continued support from his coach with regards to the future with this franchise should be regarded as a positive.

The more important one would be if the team's GM would come out of hiding and announce Fields as their quarterback for the future. Then no one needs to worry about the Bears looking at this position in the draft.

This may not be heard until the season-ending press conference, if then. GM Ryan Poles might want to maintain silence on the topic in terms of "gamesmanship" for the draft in order to protect his ability to trade down. Keep them guessing pertains to more than just the fans. 

Then again, for all anyone knows, Poles really does need to see Fields passing the ball more, running less and even operating a successful two-minute drill in the final four games before he decides anything about the draft.

This is about as clear right now as the way the Bears handle curl routes and dig routes in two-minute drills.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven