Over the past three games, the Bears offense has come alive, and most of the credit is due to quarterback Justin Fields. They have scored 33, 29, and 32 points over the course of those games. Two of those performances came against top ten teams in points allowed. The Dallas Cowboys, who have allowed 16.6 points per game, and the New England Patriots, who have allowed 18.4 points per game. A considerable part of this shift has been the Bear’s third down conversion rate.
In Weeks 1-6, the Bear’s third down conversion rate was roughly 35.5 percent. That would rank in the bottom ten of the league. In Weeks 7-9, the Bears converted approximately 55 percent of their third downs, which leads the league over the past three weeks. The Bears are now a top-ten team at converting third downs, with a roughly 42 percent conversion rate. In 2020 and 2021 the Bears were dead last in third-down conversion rate. An incredible increase throughout this season in third-down efficiency has led the Bears to score 31.3 points per game in weeks 7-9.
At the heart of this change is Justin Fields. He has rushed for 24 first downs on third down this year. He has a total of 42 first downs gained on the ground, and this ranks second behind Josh Jacobs, who has 43. Fields has almost single-handedly kept the Bears alive on third downs this season. It’s an incredible stat, seeing as though it’s all rushing. The Bears’ passing attack has been severely lacking this season, and it doesn’t matter. Fields takes matters into his own hands and picks up first downs without any help around him.
