CLEVELAND – Justin Fields and the Bears offense did their preseason most important job Saturday against the Cleveland Browns.
With only one series against the Seahawks, head coach Matt Eberflus wanted to take a closer look at his first-team offense before the game counted.
The night got off to an inauspicious start as the Bears’ offensive line had trouble in the opening series. Teven Jenkins was outplayed on the first play as David Montgomery was dropped for a 1-yard loss. In the third and eleventh, right tackle Larry Borom was hit by Alex Wright, forcing Fields to throw him onto the Browns’ bench.
Fields and the offense reacted strongly to the first flop.
Montgomery started the drive with a 6-yard run, and Fields rolled out to hit fullback Kari Brasin the game for six. Darnell Mooney picked up 5.
Facing a second-and-five, Fields felt some pressure and decided to push it in and run. He picked up 9 yards before sliding and getting hit by linebacker Jacob Phillips. A second-half hit to Fields enraged center Sam Mastifer, tight end Ryan Griffin, and the rest of the Bears, while injured center Lucas Patrick was hot on the Bears’ sideline.
The penalty forced the Bears into Browns territory 15 yards, but Griffin was flagged for withholding the next play setting first and 20 at Cleveland 49.
Fields erased the penalty with two sharp throws. His 14-yard strike to Dante Pettis and his 8-yard catch by Cole Kumett gave the Bears 27 yards inside his 30-yard line.
Two plays later, Fields got an offense in the endzone for the first time this preseason. Given a clean pocket by the offensive line, Fields stepped up and darted Griffin for a 22-yard touchdown. Fired.
The field went 5-for-5 on 55 yards on drives and added 9 on the ground.
Offensive coordinator Luke Getzi put together a variety of plays on the scoring drive, and Griffin’s route combination for a touchdown was beautiful.
However, Fields and the offense were scoreless.
The Bears started the next drive with their own 48 and quickly returned to the red zone.
Fields found Equianimous St. Brown 18 yards down and 25 yards out, and Montgomery ran 13 to 12 yards.
At first and 10, Fields got another clean pocket and threw a dime for Pettis on the route after the corner for a 12-yard score.
After being forced to punt on the fourth possession, Fields and the offense regained their new scoring method.
Fields, who took over for 38 after an interception by Greg Stroman, hit Isaiah Coulter for 6 and Nimba-Webster for 7, then threw it flat to Khalil Herbert, who rang out for 14.
A 4-yard pass to Coumet, a 6-yard pass to Herbert, and a quarterback sneak-for-one gave the Bears a first-and-10 for the Browns’ 24.
Fields faked a handoff to Herbert, bootlegged a right, and found Kmet alone in the end zone for the third touchdown pass of the night.
That was all she wrote for Fields’ preseason tune-up.
The second-year quarterback was sharp, finishing the night 14-of-16 with 156 yards and three touchdowns.
He led scoring drives of 80, 52, and 62 yards while posting a passer rating of 146.9.
With just 15 days to go into week 1, progress may have finally reached production.
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