Justin Fields is off to a historically lame start, with just 7-8 completions in each of his first three games. With it being a long season, is there any chance of him turning it around?
Fields did, after all, show some potential as a rookie. In his last three full games, he averaged 267 passing yards, with 4 TDs. He hasn’t passed for more than 121 yards in any game yet this season. The Bears can’t stick with their conservative game plans forever; they’ll need to start opening up things at least some.
I ran some numbers on this. Since 2000, there have been 20 other quarterbacks who have started the first three games of the season and finished with fewer than 40 completions. Fields’ total is the lowest, with only one other quarterbacks under 30 (David Carr of the expansion Texans in 2002).
Those other 20 quarterbacks are listed below, along with their season-total numbers. I was surprised to see that over half of them finished the season with top-20 numbers. Only one made the top 10, and it was fueled by running rather than passing (Michael Vick in 2005 and 2005).
| SLOW-STARTING QUARTERBACKS (since 2000) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | First 3 games | St | Pass | TDP | Run | TDR | Pts | Rk |
| 2008 | • Ben Roethlisberger, Pitt. | 39-59-1-447, 3 TD | 16 | 3,301 | 17 | 101 | 2 | 255.5 | 14 |
| 2004 | • Drew Brees, S.D. | 39-72-2-476, 3 TD | 15 | 3,159 | 27 | 85 | 2 | 291.3 | 11 |
| 2005 | • Michael Vick, Atl. | 38-69-2-446, 3 TD | 15 | 2,412 | 15 | 597 | 6 | 277.9 | 10 |
| 2000 | • Jay Fiedler, Mia. | 38-71-2-469, 3 TD | 15 | 2,402 | 14 | 267 | 1 | 208.8 | 20 |
| 2021 | Jameis Winston, N.O. | 38-63-2-387, 7 TD | 7 | 1,170 | 14 | 166 | 1 | 137.1 | 33 |
| 2005 | J.P. Losman, Buff. | 38-79-1-358, 1 TD | 8 | 1,340 | 8 | 154 | 0 | 114.4 | 34 |
| 2004 | • Michael Vick, Atl. | 37-61-2-457, 2 TD | 15 | 2,313 | 14 | 902 | 3 | 279.9 | 12 |
| 2019 | • Kirk Cousins, Min. | 37-63-2-502, 3 TD | 15 | 3,603 | 26 | 63 | 1 | 298.5 | 19 |
| 2001 | • Mark Brunell, Jac. | 36-60-1-467, 3 TD | 15 | 3,309 | 19 | 224 | 1 | 271.9 | 14 |
| 2003 | • Jake Plummer, Den. | 35-59-3-406, 5 TD | 11 | 2,182 | 15 | 205 | 3 | 207.6 | 20 |
| 2005 | • Ben Roethlisberger, Pitt. | 35-60-0-688, 6 TD | 12 | 2,385 | 17 | 69 | 3 | 212.2 | 19 |
| 2009 | Marc Bulger, St.L. | 35-68-0-339, 1 TD | 8 | 1,469 | 5 | 22 | 0 | 95.7 | 31 |
| 2000 | Akili Smith, Cin. | 34-85-4-441, 1 TD | 11 | 1,253 | 3 | 232 | 0 | 97.9 | 38 |
| 2008 | • Matt Ryan, Atl. | 34-64-2-511, 2 TD | 16 | 3,440 | 16 | 104 | 1 | 254.4 | 16 |
| 2006 | • Michael Vick, Atl. | 32-68-1-369, 3 TD | 16 | 2,474 | 20 | 1,039 | 2 | 320.7 | 4 |
| 2008 | JaMarcus Russell, Oak. | 32-62-0-391, 3 TD | 15 | 2,423 | 13 | 127 | 1 | 191.9 | 24 |
| 2009 | JaMarcus Russell, Oak. | 31-75-4-378, 1 TD | 9 | 1,287 | 3 | 44 | 0 | 80.8 | 36 |
| 2010 | Vince Young, Ten. | 30-43-2-338, 3 TD | 8 | 1,255 | 10 | 125 | 0 | 115.3 | 33 |
| 2007 | J.P. Losman, Buff. | 30-47-1-255, 0 TD | 7 | 1,204 | 4 | 110 | 0 | 87.2 | 38 |
| 2002 | David Carr, Hou. | 28-69-4-331, 2 TD | 16 | 2,592 | 9 | 282 | 3 | 215.8 | 24 |
| 2022 | Justin Fields, Chi. | 23-45-4-297, 2 TD | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Statistics compiled using search tools at Pro-Football-Reference.com
—Ian Allan