The Chicago Bears improved to 1-0 in the preseason with a 20-13 victory over the Miami Dolphins on Saturday, August 14, at Soldier Field.
The Bears were led by the superb play of rookie quarterback Justin Fields, who threw for 142 passing yards, one TD (including one rushing), on 14-of-20 passing attempts. Fields used both the end of the second quarter and the second half to show Bears fans why he was taken with the 11th pick.
“Yeah, Coach Nagy before that possession, he told me that he was going to try to get us another possession,” said Fields about closing out the first half. “I think [it] was very important just to get points up on the board and kind of just get some momentum going our way because we knew we were going to get the ball coming out of the second half. It was definitely a big part of the game.”
After falling behind 13-3 in the first half, the Bears exploded for 14 points in the third quarter to take a 17-13 lead. The first touchdown of the second half came on a Justin Fields QB scramble, followed by a deep TD bomb play on the team’s next possession.
“We were trying to of course be smart, 2-minute drill we go over in a lot of meetings,” said Fields. “Of course, getting the ball to the perimeter and getting out-of-bounds to stop the clock and just getting in field goal range. I was just rolling out and I saw him late last minute and jumped it up to him.”
“Yeah, they were playing man coverage, my man, Jesse, he got tripped up,” Fields said about his first touchdown pass of his career. “I was looking to go to him. Of course, I know my routes were coming my way backside, but I knew they were in man coverage and knew nobody really had me. He went to the left and saw everybody gloved up, everybody covered, so started to run to the end zone and of course it was a touchdown.”
In addition to Fields’ debut performance, the Bears defense went on to shut out the Dolphins in the second half.
Final Score: Bears 20, Dolphins 13
Chicago Crusader Player of the Game:
Rookie QB Justin Fields, Bears, threw for 142 passing yards, one TD (including one rushing), on 14- of-20 passing attempts.
Joseph Phillips is the Sports Editor for the Chicago Crusader Newspaper. He is a Chicago native, who has been a sports writer for over 17 years. He also hosts the SC Media News and Sports Network Q&A radio show on WHPK 88.5 FM Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected].
Joseph Phillips is the Sports Editor for the Chicago Crusader Newspaper. He is a Chicago native, who has been a sports writer for over 17 years. He also hosts the SC Media News and Sports Network Q&A radio show on WHPK 88.5 FM Chicago.
