Justin Fields was only sacked once on Sunday, the fewest he’s been dropped in a game all season, and just the third time a defense didn’t get him multiple times in a game in his career.
The Chicago Bears gave up another sack earlier in the game, but a Cardinals penalty negated that, so the official stat sheet read one sack and one QB hit allowed on Fileds.
Not too shabby for Chicago’s pass pro coming off a rough one in Cleveland.
This sack looked more like a run for no gain to me, but it’s in the books as a zero-yard sack.
This first-down play was a designed sprint out to the right with a seven-man protection, and the timing of the play indicates that if he doesn’t have an open window to throw, he’s to run and get what he can.
Some edge pressure caused Fields to get deeper than he wanted, but fullback Khari Blasingame’s first responsibility was to the blitz defender threat to his right, which is why he stepped that way before working back to seal and help right tackle Darnell Wright.
There were three receivers on routes, and it looked like Fields didn’t like his first two reads, so he ran toward the sideline.
A throw to DJ Moore here, who ran the 15-yard out from the right, would have needed to be pinpointed due to the cornerback waiting to jump the route, and the throw would have been all arm since he couldn’t set his feet.
So, I can understand why he didn’t pull the trigger.
The edge pressure had him moving towards the sideline in a hurry, so if he wasn’t rushed, he probably ends up with read 3 in his field of vision, but my guess with the designed sprint out is that Fields is coached to read 1-2 and then run.
With the Bears knocking on the door to field goal range, he made the safe decision, and a few plays later, Khalil Herbert ran it in for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead.
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