Jets finally granted Justin Fields a wish the Bears couldn't

The New York Jets took a complete flier on former Chicago Bears top draft pick Justin Fields when they signed him to be their starting quarterback in the 2025 season, and it appeared as though Aaron Glenn and Darren Mougey's faith in the former Ohio State star has been rewarded.

Though Fields lost his first start as a Jet against Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers, Fields completed 16 of 22 passes for 218 yards and a touchdown while running for 48 yards and two more scores. This may have been the finest individual game of Fields' career as a passer.

The Jets invested heavily in their offensive line with the goal of protecting Fields, and they played up to their potential against a great Steelers defensive line. Olu Fashanu was masterful at creating running lanes for Breece Hall, while Armand Membou dominated in pass protection.

The Bears never gave Fields this level of offensive line help, nor did they build an offense so explicitly around his strengths. All of these trends could help Fields put together a better 2025 season in New York.

The Jets gave Justin Fields OL help the Bears never did

Even after this unit lost fringe Pro Bowl guard Alijah Vera-Tucker to a torn tricep days before the season was set to begin, the unit didn't miss a beat once center Joe Tippmann was shifted over to right guard and Josh Myers (Fields' collegiate center at Ohio State) was elevated to the starting lineup.

While not a perfect performance, the fact that the Jets' offensive line performed as well as they did against a highly-regarded Pittsburgh defensive line that featured Alex Highsmith, future Hall of Famer Cam Heyward, and All-Pro TJ Watt bodes well for their performances against less-heralded units up front.

Arm strength and touch down the field were never Fields' biggest issues as a quarterback. Rather, it was his penchant for holding onto the ball for too long and piling up the ill-advised negative plays. With a strong ground game and an offense built around him, new OC Tanner Engstrand might be able to cut down on those back-breakers.

Fields will need to replicate his Pittsburgh performance a few more times before Jets fans can feel confident in him as the quarterback who can lead this team to success in the future, but the fact that he was so excellent against an opponent of this caliber speaks to what a tremendous job the offensive line did.

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