Let The Justin Fields Drama Begin: Raiders Hire Ex-Bears OC Luke Getsy, Reportedly Believe He “Wasn’t The Problem” In Chicago

Matt Fitzgerald·
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Fields Getsy
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Buckle up for this one. Get your popcorn ready. The Las Vegas Raiders seriously watched the Chicago Bears offense from this season, deemed Luke Getsy a worthy offensive coordinator, and hired him once Kliff Kingsbury backed out to perhaps coach Caleb Williams in Washington.

Check that, multiple teams actually wanted a piece of Getsy. To say that doesn’t bode well for Justin Fields’ future in the NFL is the understatement of the year, and we’re barely out of January. Then again, is Getsy really not to blame in large part for the catastrophic, comically dysfunctional Bears offense of 2023?

We’re talking about a play-caller who had easily one of the top-five rushing quarterbacks of all-time and went out of his way not to call designed runs for him. You know, the classic “do this because it’s my system” coach as opposed to the “tailor my system to my players’ strengths” coach. Ask Josh McDaniels how the former approach worked out in Las Vegas.

Here’s the juicy part, though: Don’t expect a Getsy-Fields reunion despite the Raiders’ obvious need for a quarterback. Vic Tafur of The Athletic, take it away:

Before you throw Getsy 100% under the bus for what happened with Fields over the past two seasons, let’s establish a few things that are all true, all at once.

Whomever was coaching the Bears’ offensive line was terrible. So many blown assignments. The personnel usage and play design from Getsy were often abominable. And yes, Fields had serious issues seeing the field and failed to pull the trigger on open throws, but he was habitually bailing from clean pockets and pulling his eyes down because of how much of a disaster the pass protection often was.

When it comes to Getsy in particular, I don’t know that I’ve ever laughed harder in my life than when I saw/heard J.T. O’Sullivan watch back the Bears’ Week 12 matchup with the Vikings, wherein they called a legitimately side-splitting amount of perimeter screens. After three in a row, J.T. couldn’t help but let out a maniacal cackle.

Sadly it’s behind a paywall, but if you’re a football junkie, there is no better single thing to subscribe to. This isn’t like a paid ad or anything. It’s just a fact.

Good news? We have further evidence of how much of a sh*t show the Bears were from what’s available to the general public, courtesy of JTO. If Getsy believers want evidence that Fields was sabotaging him, here you go:

If you’re a diehard Fields defender and want to highlight how pathetic Getsy’s scheme was far too often, here are a couple plays to fuel your fire:

Those last few plays are from Week 1 because The QB School didn’t post clips to X as often once the season got deeper, and these were some of the funniest. It perfectly captures how atrocious Chicago was. Let me tell you, JTO broke down the Bears damn near every single week on YouTube or via Patreon full-game watches. That scheme didn’t evolve or get any better at any point in the season.

Before Fields injured his thumb and was forced to miss about a month of action, believe it or not, he had back-to-back games with four TD passes. One was against the Broncos right after they gave up that 70 burger to the Dolphins; the other came against the dumpster fire that was the 2023 Commanders. Those standout performances accounted for half of his entire TD pass total for the season. They seem like miracles given how the rest of the year went.

I can promise you that Justin Fields has a loyal army of fans. Whether they’re Ohio State diehards who are waving CJ Stroud’s success in everyone’s faces and therefore think Fields is the truth by proxy, or they’re just flat-out delusional about his upside as a professional thrower of the football, it can get ugly out there on the social media streets. Protect yourself if you have a bad word to say about him whatsoever.

LOL at that last one. For real. I love how the vast majority of sports consumers feel compelled to take one extreme stance or another in the modern landscape of sports debate, where there’s seldom any nuance. It’s just a bunch of screaming into the void and deliberate, lazy polarization.

Y’all. Maybe the play-caller and quarterback had a lot of responsibility to bear for the Bears’ futility. I can almost guarantee you, even if it’s by a slim margin, that Getsy and Fields will improve this coming year. Both parties will be better off apart than they were together.

Anyway, sure sounds like the consensus around the league (where it really matters) is mounting against Fields.

On the other hand, he’s so gifted as a runner that if he can just function as a pedestrian passer, there’s enough there to bet on. You’d just love to have seen more through three seasons.

Maybe Getsy wasn’t the problem in the Windy City. He certainly was a problem. A significant one.

Until Getsy is helping the Raiders light up the scoreboard with Aidan O’Connell or a presumed upgrade in 2024 and beyond, I’ll believe it when I see it that he’s a capable NFL offensive coordinator. If you ask me, it sounds like Getsy is the latest close friend of Aaron Rodgers who climbed the ladder without much merit in Green Bay, only to flop when he left the Packers. You gotta wonder how Raiders receiver and ex-Cheesehead Davante Adams feels about this hiring of Getsy.

Ladies and gents, we might have ourselves another Nathaniel Hackett-Jets type of situation brewing in Vegas!

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