Bears coach Matt Eberflus had just given out game balls to the entire team — they’ll have the word ‘‘Finish’’ painted on them — when quarterback Justin Fields asked for a moment to address the team in the locker room Monday night in Minneapolis.
‘‘Those two fumbles, bro,’’ he said. ‘‘Appreciate y’all for sticking on my side, believing in me.’’
On further review, here’s a look at the most clutch throw of Fields’ career, the Bears’ screen-happy ways and Fields’ two fumbles in a 12-10 victory against the Vikings:
The ‘deep in’
On third-and-10 from the Vikings’ 49 with 1:06 left, Fields saw receiver DJ Moore wide-open on an in-breaking route down the middle of the field, stepped into the throw and gained 36 yards.
Three plays later, Cairo Santos kicked the game-winning 30-yard field goal.
The Vikings blitzed on a whopping 52% of the Bears’ pass plays, but they didn’t do it once during the final scoring drive. On third down, they rushed four linemen and left a linebacker to spy Fields.
Tight end Cole Kmet crossed shallow left to right. Receiver Tyler Scott ran a corner route toward the right pylon, taking safety Camryn Bynum with him.
About 10 yards into his route, Moore knew the Bears had something.
‘‘I was like, ‘Something ain’t right about this. . . . Shoot, there’s nobody in the middle,’ ’’ Moore said. ‘‘This ‘deep in’ is gonna be in the middle.’’
Fields said safety Josh Metellus was the only one close to Moore, ‘‘and he had no idea where DJ was.’’
Metellus said the Bears did a good job of finding a spot in the Vikings’ zone.
‘‘We were trying to play aggressively, keep them from getting big chunk plays and forcing them to throw the ball down the middle of the field,’’ Metellus said. ‘‘They made a good play.’’
Short throws
What made the deep completion even more impressive was that the Bears spent most of the game not trusting Fields to throw deep against the blitz-happy Vikings. Or at least not very often.
Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy called 13 screen passes, leaving Fields with 2.4 air yards per pass and 1.9 air yards per completion, both career lows.
‘‘They pack the paint, so to speak,’’ Eberflus said of the Vikings. ‘‘Some of their coverages are three deep, and they’ve got two guys in the middle. So, really, the open spots on a lot of those are on the perimeter.’’
No NFL team in three years has thrown more passes behind the line of scrimmage than the Bears’ 21.
‘‘You can spit the ball to the perimeter,’’ Eberflus said, ‘‘or you can max [protect] it up and have a two-man route and try to see if you can get it done that way.’’
The Bears chose the former.
‘‘This is kinda what you’ve gotta do,’’ Fields said. ‘‘I think the receivers did a great job on the outside perimeter, blocking and letting those [bubble screens] turn into eight-, 12-yard gains, and those are big plays for us.’’
Eberflus said he would have preferred the Bears to be more explosive.
‘‘You’re always wanting more chunks,’’ Eberflus said.
That starts with trusting Fields to hang in there against the blitz.
The fumbles
Fields was as apologetic about his fumbles as he was thrilled about his pass to Moore. Without the former, he figured, the Bears wouldn’t have needed the latter.
Since he entered the league in 2021, Fields leads the NFL with 35 fumbles. The next-closest player, Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, has 28. Fields has fumbled seven times in eight games this season; Vikings quarterback Josh Dobbs leads the league with 14 fumbles in 12 games.
Fields’ two fumbles in the fourth quarter Monday were alarming.
The Bears were ahead by six with the ball at the Vikings’ 22 with about 10 minutes left. Fields knew he couldn’t fumble. He had chided running back Roschon Johnson for the same thing two plays earlier, when Johnson put the ball on the ground but recovered it.
‘‘I said to him, ‘Ball security is the most important thing right now,’ ’’ Fields said. ‘‘Two plays later, I fumble.’’
Fields took a shotgun snap and scrambled over right tackle. He held the ball in both hands but pulled his right arm away as edge rusher Danielle Hunter grabbed his left arm. Defensive linemen Sheldon Day recovered the ball.
Eberflus said that Johnson needed to block better and that Fields ‘‘could’ve been a little more poised back there, calmer in his demeanor’’ before taking off.
The Vikings, with momentum, marched 77 yards for a touchdown.
Then with the Bears trailing by one with about 3:30 left, Fields took a shotgun snap on third-and-10 from his 36, scrambled up the middle and was hit by Metellus at the 42. Metellus’ helmet hit Fields’ right arm, and the ball popped loose.
‘‘The second one was like a backbreaker,’’ Fields said.
His decision to scramble was a good one, Eberflus said, but Fields needs to cover the ball with his left hand.
‘‘He didn’t do that,’’ Eberflus said. ‘‘I thought the defender made a really nice play. He put his hat on the football, and it came out.’’
