The first half of the Bears’ opening game against the 49ers was nothing to write home about for Bears quarterback Justin Fields, but he and the team were able to turn things around in the final 30 minutes.
Chicago scored the final 19 points of their 19-10 win over the 49ers and Fields went 5-of-8 for 102 yards and two touchdowns to help lead that comeback. All of that came in a driving rain that made the task all more the difficult for the second-year quarterback.
Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said on Wednesday that Fields’ ability to find his footing despite the early struggles and poor weather was what impressed him the most about Sunday’s performance.
“He was able to move all those things aside,” Eberflus said, via Alex Shapiro of NBCSportsChicago.com. “Figuring out how he was going to grip the ball better, how he was going to operate and then figure out the game as the game went on, and move the ball down the field. That’s what to me is outstanding, what an outstanding thing for a young quarterback to have that mental toughness, all of those things going on and to be able to laser-like focus in and get the job done. So to me, that was very impressive.”
The ability to bounce back from failures and handle adversity is crucial for quarterbacks, so last Sunday’s outing was a promising one for a player still finding his footing as a pro. Playing from behind is a tough way to live in the NFL, though, so the Bears would be happy to see fewer tests of Fields’ mettle in the coming weeks.
