The Chicago Bears lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 27-17, on Sunday. For many Bears fans, it was the final straw in the Justin Fields era.
The quarterback threw two interceptions and was sacked six times. He fumbled twice though he didn't lose either of those. It didn't matter. His performance was abysmal on the stat sheet and with the eye test.
This is Year 3 for Fields. This is when he's supposed to be putting things together. Instead, everything is falling apart.
It's so bad that some of his most fervent defenders on social media are now jumping ship.
Bears fans are done with Justin Fields but organization is to blame
Justin Fields in a clean pocket with a wide open WR pic.twitter.com/LIPgzb2zBY
ā Iš¦ (@NagyToCFL) September 17, 2023
Justin Fields pic.twitter.com/s8P6WmoC8F
ā Ł (@mooh3e) September 17, 2023
I canāt defend Justin Fields, he fuckin sucks pic.twitter.com/vMZTNoVFiU
ā brady ā“ļø (@aybrady) September 17, 2023
I wanted it to be Justin Fields man I really did. It canāt end like this š pic.twitter.com/611nVc64Hy
ā Bearsszn (@bearssznn) September 17, 2023
NFC North Twitter all off-season: Justin Fields is not good lmao
ā ššššš š īØ (@LandonTheGr8) September 17, 2023
Bears Twitter week 2:pic.twitter.com/GdhlfsdF4W
Bears fans when Justin Fields is awful like the entire rest of the league hasnāt been telling them for over a year pic.twitter.com/qoUn14Vibs
ā Brev (@brevmanbane) September 17, 2023
Fields caught plenty of flack on social media but it looks like most Bears fans don't put the blame squarely on the quarterback. The Bears organization itself was in the crosshairs.
I wanted Justin Fields to be the guy so bad.
ā Dave (@dave_bfr) September 17, 2023
One of the best prospects the Bears have ever had.
They fucked this one up too. Unbelievable.
News flash to #Bears fans
ā Jake (@Jake_B30) September 17, 2023
If you can ruin a talent like Justin Fields, it wonāt matter what QB you draftā¦ he will also be ruined
This isnāt a QB problem, the an organizational issue with ruining QBs
Happened to Cutler, happened to Trubisky and itās happening to Fields
Justin Fields being drafting into a dogshit organization, is why Caleb Williams threatened to return to USC.
ā illwill (@79illwill) September 17, 2023
I wouldnāt want to come to Chicago and Iām a Bears fan.
The Bears draft Caleb Williams in the 2024 Draft, and we will be having this same conversation in 2027.
ā illwill (@79illwill) September 11, 2023
Poles & Flus either fix this this or itās a wrap. Iāve seen this too many times.
āCutler aināt the guy!ā
āTrubisky aināt the guy!ā
āJustin Fields aināt the guy!ā pic.twitter.com/HRzu2LEeG3
Chicago isn't so far removed from playoff appearances under Matt Nagy, but they moved on from him in favor of Matt Eberflus after going 6-11 in 2021, Fields' first season. Eberflus certainly isn't having the start to his second season in charge he'd have hoped for.
Sunday's loss moved the Bears to 0-2. This is the first time they've started 0-2 since 2017.
They have now won five games in three seasons with Fields starting at quarterback. So he's definitely part of the problem. He just might not be the root of the problem.
And it's only going to get more difficult next week with a trip to Arrowhead Stadium to take on the Chiefs.
When was the last time the Bears opened a season 0-3? 2016. They ended up with the No. 2 overall pick in the following NFL Draft, using it on Mitchell Trubisky. It took Trubisky four seasons to get run out of town. We'll see if Fields goes any quicker.