Then, there was a third, more hidden, big play the staff loved, where Fields avoided a sack on a keeper play and ran for 12 yards. And both were examples of how Fields compartmentalized some shaky play early, and the conditions, and made plays when it mattered most. The touchdown throw to Dante Pettis showed Fields’s athleticism, poise and ability to improvise.

While we’re there, Justin Fields’s numbers weren’t great (8-for-17, 121 yards, 2 TDs, INT), but his coaches were pretty happy with how he played on Sunday, and how he handled really messy conditions, fought through and made two plays that won the game for the Bears.The offense was a respectable 8-for-17 on third down. That said, I don’t think it was as bad as some made it out to be, like there was nothing for the 49ers’ second-year quarterback to build on. And really, it worked to make Lance’s day a tough one. The Bears drilled their defense all week last week on playing the run/boot game, and play-action off it on first and second down (the offense they worked against in camp is a cousin of Kyle Shanahan’s, so to speak), and then making Trey Lance make difficult throws on third down.

And all the players, like Hill, will remember that he was willing to trust them. It showed a belief in Tagovailoa and Jaylen Waddle, not to mentioned a revamped line, to get it done in a critical spot, that easily could’ve swung the other way before the half.

Shoutout to Tyreek Hill for delivering the line of the day yesterday, on Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel’s decision to go for it on fourth-and-7 at the end of the first half against the Patriots: “He’s going to need a wheelbarrow for his nuts to carry around, because he’s got a lot of cojones.” And the ballsy call should be worth more to McDaniel in the long run than just the seven points it put on the board.

At this point, I’d look at him as a raw version of Mack. So I think that’ll be your comp for Walker. On that one, Walker, flatfooted, jacked up a pulling guard from Michigan, created a standstill, then reached around him like Scorpion from Mortal Kombat to pull the ballcarrier down.Īnd on the play Wentz is referencing? Walker picked the ball off at point-blank range, simply reacting on instinct to what was happening around him. I had a really smart coach compare the power in his game, predraft, to Khalil Mack’s-and show me a play from the Orange Bowl to back it up. 1 pick Travon Walker, who was questioned predraft (I’ll raise my hand on that one), and who keeps showing up in highlights, going back to the preseason. The guy on the other end of that play? No. Second one, guy made an unbelievable play. “First one, obviously, bad throw, bad decision.

“It’s not easy, any time you have back-to-back plays like that,” Wentz said.

Speaking of rookies, I went back and looked at my conversation with Carson Wentz Sunday night, and there was a line that stuck out to me, when we talked about the consecutive picks he threw in the fourth quarter.

The difference now, it seems, is that teams are more willing to ride these out, and I’d expect Green Bay and Indianapolis will do just that with these guys. All of that’s been blown up by the NFL incorporating more college-centric schemes, receivers catching a million balls since they were preteens (thanks, 7-on-7) and, of course, the sorts of starts the NFL careers of guys like Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase got off to.īut we saw over the weekend that there can be bumps along the way, with the Packers rookies struggling and Colts rookie Alec Pierce recording a key drop. In fact, I can remember when I started covering the league how coaches said that you often couldn’t really tell what you had at the position until a guy’s third year.

Receiver used to be among the NFL’s toughest positions to adjust to, coming from the college level.

Then, there’s Tom Brady, who, if he chooses to play at age 46, would have the right to sign with whoever he wants in March.

And then, you have a crop of former first-round picks, in Daniel Jones, Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold, set to hit the market. After those three, you’ll have the Dolphins reaching the three-year contractual crossroads with Tua Tagovailoa-with decisions on whether to pick up his fifth-year option and/or extend him on tap.

Point blank west