Quarterback Justin Fields and the first-group offense put on an act Saturday in Cleveland, scoring 21 straight focuses and driving the Bears to a 21-20 win over the Browns.
Fields set up a great individual execution, finishing 14 of 16 passes for 156 yards and three scores. He procured a rating of 146.9 in his longest trip of the preseason — Fields at the first-group offense were on the fields for 29 plays — and finished passes to 10 distinct players through five drives.
Fields said he had a nice sentiment and certainty going into the game, and was eager to see his unit’s defining moment in learning and executing the offense.
“I believe it’s only execution on all parts,” Fields said. “I think the o-line worked really hard safeguarding today, I let them know that on various occasions. The recipients worked effectively with scramble drill simply running the right courses, the right profundity and stuff like that. So again insurance wise, running the football and that will open everything up with our play-activity and contraband plays.
Fields tossed his most memorable score of the preseason, interfacing with tight end Ryan Griffin on a corner course for 22 yards and the score. Fields was wonderful on the 7-play, 80-yard drive, finishing five passes for 55 yards to put the Bears up 7-0.
The second-year quarterback flaunted his flexibility, finishing passes to five unique players on the drive and scrambling for a first down.
“I simply think [Fields] is improving,” mentor Matt Eberflus said. “Like I said recently, he’s a youthful player, he wants insight. I think this was a game-like encounter for him that he expected to have. He moved forward for himself and for our football crew simply settling in, working the offense and doing his thing. I figured he did that this evening.”
On the resulting ownership, the Browns’ Cade York missed a 58-yard field objective endeavor, giving the Bears the ball at their own 48. Handles immediately dropped the offense down the field with a 18-yard finishing to beneficiary Equanimeous St. Brown, then, at that point, David Montgomery got 13 yards to get in the red zone. Fields covered off the 5-play, 52-yard drive with a 12-yard score pass to beneficiary Dante Pettis, stretching out the Bears’ lead to 14-0 with 13:49 left in the half.
The Bears protection made the principal focal point of the night as Greg Stroman Jr. blocked Browns quarterback Jacoby Brissett at Chicago’s 38, setting up one more scoring an open door for the offense.
Handles then directed his third and last score drive, covering it off by expanding a play with his legs then, at that point, tossing 24 yards to a completely open Cole Kmet in the right corner of the end zone. Yet again the quarterback finished 5 of 5 passes on the 8-play, 62-yard drive. Kicker Cairo Santosthen hit his third additional point, giving the Bears a 21-0 lead with 3:35 leftover in the primary half.
“We’re energized where Cole is,” Eberflus said. “Cole had one more great game this game, so we’re amped up for where he is. He’s been rehearsing his tail off, so he’s been buckling down, he’s been impeding at the point. Clearly, he’s getting the ball well in the open field and pursuing the catch. So he’s been doing a few pleasant things. We’re satisfied [with] where he is.”
In the last two minutes of the subsequent quarter, York associated on fields objectives of 57 and 46 yards to slice the Bears’ lead to 21-6.
Montgomery saw his most memorable playing season of the preseason Saturday, scrambling for 28 yards on 9 conveys. Pettis acquired the most focuses with the first-group offense, getting 3 of 4 passes for 37 yards. Kmet got every one of the three focuses for 36 yards.
The Bears first-group hostile line continued as before as left tackle Braxton Jones, left watch Cody Whitehair, focus Sam Mustipher, right gatekeeper Teven Jenkins and right tackle Larry Borom all began briefly successive game.
“Simply great activity by and large,” Eberflus said of the offense. “We ran the ball strong; I thought the play-activity was great. The boots and waggles were great, we took the fulfillments there. And afterward we made a decent showing of dealing with, we got the focal point and we scored. That is reciprocal football. Then we wind up parting with the ball. We wind up halting them and holding them to three places. That was a decent swing of four focuses there for ourselves and that presumably occurred for the ball game, so that was great.”
The Browns revitalized with a couple of final quarter scores to get inside a solitary point at 21-20, yet the Bears halted Cleveland’s two-point transformation endeavor with 2:31 excess to save the success.
