The Chicago Bears have had a hard time establishing their passing game this season (to put it mildly), but the true extent of their struggles is staggering.
An absurd stat went viral about Bears quarterback Justin Fields on Tuesday. Fields somehow has fewer completions through the first four weeks of the NFL season (34) than Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp has receptions (42), per Ari Meirov of Pro Football Focus.
The reigning Super Bowl MVP Kupp is an elite target monster who just set a career high in single-game receptions with 14 of them against San Francisco in Week 4 … but that much is already expected of him. The real surprise here is how completely deficient Fields has been as a passer this season.
The 23-year-old Fields still has yet to top 175 yards passing in a single game in 2022. He also has just two passing TDs (with four interceptions) and is the proud owner of an abominable 50.7 completion percentage (dead last among NFL starting quarterbacks by four full percentage points).
Perhaps some of the blame lies with first-year Bears coach Matt Eberflus, a great defensive mind who is still finding his way on offense. He often wholly abandons the passing game with Chicago’s total rush attempts (136) more than doubling their total pass attempts (67) this season. But as for Fields himself, he is no stranger to going viral for all the wrong on-field reasons.
