The Chicago Bears announced before the final preseason game versus the Tennessee Titans, that Andy Dalton will be their starting quarterback when the team takes the field in week one versus the Rams. Many fans are disgruntled as they had hopes of seeing Justin Fields behind center when the Bears faced the Rams in LA. The Bears coaching staff were in love with the red headed rifleman, Andy Dalton, before the 2020 season. Bears could not finagle a trade with the Bengals who drafted Joe Burrow out of LSU. Bengals ended up releasing Dalton who went on to sign a deal with the Cowboys to back up Dak Prescott. Bears could not pounce on Dalton because they have pulled the trigger on Nick Foles in a trade with the Jaguars. Bears coaching staff thought Nick Foles would be the answer. This is the grand scheme to move on from Mitch Trubisky. Foles did not look like his days in a Eagle uniform. Bears let Mitch Trubisky walk. Bears coaching staff finally got their second guy this off-season as they inked Andy Dalton to a one year deal. Then the football draft took place and suddenly the Bears found themselves with a chance to land Justin Fields, the former Buckeye. That moment, as if time paused, Andy Dalton became enemy number one to Chicago Bears fans. Are the Bears doing the right thing starting Dalton over Fields?
Does pre-season tell you the tale of the tape for both these quarterbacks? The eye test would tell you Justin Fields looked better overall in the pre-season games than Andy Dalton. Then you bring in the debate of which Quarterback played with the varsity class and which one played with the Frosh/Sophomore squad? Let’s not forget starters the Bears rested, that did not play in any of the pre-season games. Plus, let’s not forget the teams the Bears faced in pre-season who did play all their guys. In a bar stool debate, you can throw stats in any of these games out the window. What I saw in pre-season was Andy Dalton got lucky on a big gainer for a touchdown where the receiver stripped the ball from the defender in mid air. He ran for the long score while the corner back fell to the ground. I noticed Justin Fields hangs on to the ball way too long. I remember the play when the Buffalo Bill defender made chop suey out of Fields as his helmet came off in the collision. I did notice Fields has the escape ability when the pocket is closing up like the walls closing in on Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and the Princess, in the movie Star Wars. The next question I have which we do not know the answer to is… how did both quarterbacks do in practice? I would never buy anything the Bears brass is selling. The tells the General Manager Ryan Pace has in the press conferences let me know he would be the first to lose his shirt in a poker game.
What is the best way to start a young quarterback who you think is the face of your franchise for years to come? Should Justin Fields hold on to a clip board and learn the NFL on the sidelines from the veteran bridge quarterback that Andy Dalton has become? Bears tried this with Mitch Trubisky. Mike Glennon was that veteran in an experiment gone badly compared to the laboratory that produced the Covid virus. Trubisky would play decently in his first year behind center where he had no receivers. Everyone likes the road Patrick Mahomes took with the Kansas City Chiefs. Mahomes learned from Alex Smith who had a great year. Chiefs made the playoffs. Mahomes played in a meaningless game at the end of the season that year. Could Andy Dalton keep Fields on the bench and play well? Dalton signed with the Bears to be QB number 1. Dalton was probably told he was. Any veteran player, especially with the mentality of a quarterback, are going to play with a chip on his shoulder. Dalton will be looking for a contract beyond this season. Obviously with another team. Could Dalton drive the car how Ryan Fitzpatrick did in Miami last season & then hand the keys over like the Beard did to young quarterback Tua Tagovailoa? Miami would have made the playoffs if they went with Fitzmagic the entire season. Miami came close in the tough AFC with Tua Time mania on South Beach. Many people would say throw the young quarterback into the pit of snakes and let him get his bites and lumps in. How Peyton Manning and other greats have done it since the league formed. Getting the experience of on the job training. Some people compare the Bears quarterback saga to Russel Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks. Wilson’s first year he beat out the one-game-wonder, Matt Flynn, who got a big contract from Seattle that off-season. Seahawks’ two Superbowls and multiple playoff appearances later have Russell Wilson looking like a future Hall-of-Famer.
When it comes down to the way the Chicago Bears do things, it’s an automatic wrong way. I get the thought process behind putting Andy Dalton in versus that stud defense the Rams have. Many believe the Rams defense is the best in the league coming into the 2021 season. Plus, the Bears have a 39-year-old left tackle to protect Dalton’s blindside. Jason Peters has not played in any pre-season game. Peters has had a great career, but how much does he have left in the gas tank? Bears do everything on the fly. Nothing seems like an intelligent plan when it comes to the Bears. Like drafting Justin Fields, like someone left a bag of cash on your front steps. You take it, but then the Bears don’t know how to use it. I would have fired this current coaching staff last season. Bears got lucky and found their way into the playoffs from a broken Cardinal team and the expanded post-season last year. This probably did save Head Coach Matt Nagy’s job. I can see Matt Nagy not playing Justin Fields right away to stay employed. Use the excuse that it takes time to develop a young quarterback. Then GM Ryan Pace got another chance at selecting a quarterback. By drafting Justin Fields, does that take him off the hook for picking Mitch Trubisky over DeShaun Watson or Patrick Mahomes? The front office should have been eliminated as well last season. Pace’s draft history is horrible. The Bears GM still has never addressed the offensive line. You have a head coach who’s supposed to be the QB whisperer with a War and Peace style playbook and has failed to run a top-tier offense. Blame that on a bad line, bad play calls and not developing your quarterbacks. It has been the defense that Nagy inherited that has his coaching record with more wins than losses. Andy Dalton will get a raw deal and move on from Chicago next season. Dalton might be the best choice versus the Rams or will end up as the sacrificial lamb in week one. Fields could also find himself damaged goods if he played versus a defense like that in week one. In the long run I think it will take another head coach to get the best out of Justin Fields. Lets just hope Fields is not permanent damaged goods when the new staff comes in.
The Wild shamrock 