NEWSLETTER
Despite the risks, Justin Fields is going to play on Sunday. Matt Eberflus has been pretty straightforward about that (and if there was ever any doubt, he cleared it up against the Lions, when Eberflus left Fields in the game despite the blowout).
The upshot here is that Justin Fields will have an opportunity to break Lamar Jackson’s all-time single-season quarterback rushing record next Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings.
After his 132-yard rushing performance against Detroit on Sunday Justin Fields has 1,143 rushing yards this season, which means he needs just 63 more rushing yards against the Vikings to tie Jackson’s record (64 to break it).
Fields is averaging 76.2 yards per contest on the ground this season, but ran for just 47 against the Vikings in a Week 5 loss to Minnesota earlier this season. Fields’ 47 rushing yards against the Vikings came on just eight attempts as the Bears played much of that game from behind and Fields threw the ball 21 times for 208 yards.
Fields still averaged 5.9 yards per carry in that game in limited opportunities, meaning he would need 10-11 carries to break the record against Minnesota at that same per-carry clip.
While I don’t want to see Justin Fields put in harm’s way again in Week 18, seeing him break the all-time quarterback rushing record would be pretty cool, and it’s extremely attainable heading into this one.
