Justin Fields’ stunning touchdown run and pass provide some hope in another concerning Chicago Bears loss: ‘It’s just all instincts right there’

When Justin Fields hopped across the goal line in the south end zone Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field and flung the football into the air in celebration, the moment felt significant.

Yes, to the Chicago Bears fans who screamed in appreciation of Fields’ insane 22-yard touchdown scramble but also to the rookie quarterback himself.

“Yeah, I’m not going to lie, that was awesome,” Fields said. “I was excited, as y’all could see.”

If there was a silver lining to the Bears’ 33-22 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, it was that Fields had some of the spectacular plays fans have dreamed about since the Bears drafted him at No. 11 in the spring.

Twenty-two points against the four-loss 49ers isn’t cause for celebration or a guarantee the Bears offense is ready to go on a roll, but it’s still more than the Bears have scored in all but one other game this season.

The Bears offense failed to come through on two late possessions, with Fields overthrowing Darnell Mooney and taking a sack for a loss of 14 yards on back-to-back plays in the first of the two drives. He also threw an interception on the Bears offense’s final play, and he took four sacks in the game. But Fields at least gave the the team more spark than in recent weeks, including his five-turnover game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week.

Fields completed 19 of 27 passes for 175 yards and an 8-yard touchdown pass to Jesse James. The Bears rookie also finally let loose on the ground, totaling 103 yards on 10 carries, including four runs of 15 yards or more, against a 49ers defense that has had much better success slowing opponents’ passing games.

“No. 1 improved today,” said interim head coach Chris Tabor, who was filling in while Matt Nagy was out with COVID-19. “He made plays with his legs. He led our team. He threw the ball well. He gave us a chance and obviously he’s a special player. He made nothing into something and got us going there. … That’s the story of a rookie quarterback. You saw a guy get better, so I am excited about that.”

Fields is the second Bears quarterback since at least 1960 to hit 100 or more rushing yards, dating to Bobby Douglass, who did it three times.

That of course included the wild touchdown run, the second of Fields’ career.

“It’s just all instincts right there,” Fields said. “We tried to get Khalil (Herbert) to the flat real quick, and the end came off free. … They just came off the edge with a blitz. In that situation you technically have to throw hot right there, but there were too many guys in front of my face, and Khalil was covered, so yeah.”

“So yeah” unfolded like a video game.

On fourth-and-1, Fields stumbled to his right and then broke back to his left, avoiding the tackles of three 49ers defenders. He sped to the left of a Jason Peters block and then weaved back to the right past blocks from Darnell Mooney and Jesse James into the end zone.

“I knew I could outrun guys to the left for 1 yard,” Fields said. “But I just saw a lane started opening up and then I just ran it right in the end zone. I can’t really describe it. It really just happened off of instinct. It was a great play by everybody on that.”

Herbert said the play showed Fields is “different.”

“A playmaker as you can see,” Herbert said. “But his will to win is very strong and it’s going to pay off soon.”

Fields’ touchdown pass wasn’t an ordinary play either.

He rolled to his left and threw to James on the run, placing the low ball right where James could dive to make the catch behind cornerback Josh Norman. Fields called it a great route and catch by James.

“You just have to get your body into a good position to make that throw,” Fields said. “I got on the edge clean because their ends were pretty much crashing all day for the run. You just have to continue to rep it out. And the more you rep it out, the more you get comfortable with that, the easier it is to make that throw in the game.”

The loss was the Bears’ third straight, and the defense’s second-half collapse against 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and running back Elijah Mitchell was concerning.

But Fields at least left Soldier Field feeling better about what the offense accomplished, especially going 8-for-15 on third down. He said he’s in a good space mentally as he works to keep his development on track.

And at this point, for a Bears team that dropped to 3-5 and is focused on the growth of its rookie, that’s a small victory.

“Just trying to keep the outside voices out,” Fields said. “And just trying to keep (what) we have within the team and just really communicating with each other and getting on the same page. … Just focus on us.”

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