Getty Image / Todd Rosenberg
The Green Bay Packers continued their decades-long dominance of their rivals, the Chicago Bears, on Sunday with a 17-9 victory that sent the Packers to the NFL playoffs. The Packers have owned the Bears recently, and are 37-12 since the turn of 21st century.
After the game, Green Bay Packers linebacker Quay Walker decided to rub some salt in the wound and trash talk Justin Fields, criticizing the quarterback’s lack of ability to throw from the pocket.
“Whenever we can keep him in the pocket and allow him just to play quarterback and not allow him to run, we got a real, real good chance of winning the game,” Walker said.
Well, that was pretty direct. On a day when Packers first-year starting quarterback Jordan Love shined, throwing for over 300 yards, Justin Fields looked pedestrian throwing the ball once again. He was 11/16 for 148 yards. Those numbers aren’t terrible on their own, but that’s simply not explosive enough in the passing game. They did a nice job of keeping him in the pocket and ineffective with his legs, as he had just 8 carries for 27 yards.
On the season, Fields was a better passer than he’s been, but only slightly. On the year, he threw for 2,562 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions in 12 games. That’s aggressively mediocre, even after you add in his 630 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns. It proves Walker’s point, too. Just keep him in the pocket, and he probably won’t hurt you.
Speaking of Justin Fields, the Chicago Bears have a big decision to make. Since they own the Carolina Panthers’ first-round pick due to a trade last year, they will have the first and ninth picks in the upcoming NFL Draft. With two highly-coveted quarterbacks in USC’s Caleb Williams and UNC’s Drake Maye at the top of many people’s boards, they could either select one of those two or decide to go with Fields again, trade down, and stock assets.
Justin Fields’ future will be one of the most interesting storylines of the offseason.