Rookie Justin Fields made his first NFL start against the Browns, where Fields was introduced to the brutal reality of what it means to be a quarterback on the Bears.
Fields’ debut was ugly from start to finish. And while Fields wasn’t devoid of all blame, which included holding onto the ball for too long and missing some timing throws, most of it falls squarely on the shoulders of his head coach and offensive play caller Matt Nagy, who set Fields up to fail from the start.
Fields was sacked nine — that’s right, nine — times by the Browns, including 4.5 by Myles Garrett, who set a team record.
It was an absolute brutal offensive game from start to finish, the onus of which falls on Nagy, who is coming under fire Monday morning following his usage of Fields in his first NFL start.
If this statement from Garrett, via Mike Florio, isn’t an indictment on Nagy, then I don’t know what is.
“He told me that the Browns’ defense was surprised by the way that Justin Fields was used, or more accurately, the way he wasn’t used. They didn’t move him around, they didn’t get him out of the pocket, they didn’t roll him out, they didn’t take advantage of his mobility. It made it easier for the defensive lineman to get home, to get him onto the ground, and we saw Garrett do it 4.5 times, a team record.”
Mike Florio relayed this conversation he had with the Browns’ Myles Garrett on NBC last night– pic.twitter.com/afV6iM6lxX
— Jason Lieser (@JasonLieser) September 27, 2021
Garrett was asked about it directly following the game, where he essentially said it only took the Browns defense one possession to figure out how to stop the Bears. And they did just that.
“After that first possession, I thought so, just seeing how we were getting off of the ball and how the games were working,” Garrett said. “I knew I flew up the field on the first play thinking it was pass – that is on me. After that, I think we kind of settled in and saw how they planned to use the flow of the game. It kind of came to us easily after the second possession and kind of figured out what they were going to do and how we were going to adjust to that.”
Whether it was Nick Foles being captured telling Andy Dalton on Sunday that “the offense isn’t working” or Garrett’s comments, it’s clear that Nagy just isn’t the right man for the job.
