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          Justin Fields' scrambling and throwing display produces Chicago Bears' first touchdown of the season

          • Courtney Cronin, ESPN Staff WriterSep 11, 2022, 03:22 PM ET
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              Courtney Cronin joined ESPN in 2017, originally covering the Minnesota Vikings before switching to the Chicago Bears in 2022. Courtney is a frequent panelist on Around the Horn and host of Best Week Ever on ESPN Radio. She also co-hosts The Chicago Bears Podcast on ESPN 1000. She previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News as a multimedia sports journalist.

          CHICAGO -- It took Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields 2½ quarters to connect with one of his wide receivers in the Bears' season opener against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. On the Bears' first drive of the third quarter, the second-year quarterback turned a broken play into a big gain to put an exclamation point on an otherwise sloppy day of football.

          The Chicago offense had been living in third-down purgatory all afternoon under rainy skies at Solider Field. Facing a familiar third-and-10, Fields dropped back to pass and bailed to his left as the pocket was collapsing. The quarterback scrambled for 10 yards before launching a deep ball across the field to Dante Pettis, who stood uncovered when he hauled in the reception.

          Pettis caught the ball at the 30-yard line and sprinted toward the end zone for Chicago's first score of the season, reducing the 49ers' lead to 10-7.

          The play officially goes down as a 51-yard touchdown. Fields had 30.6 scramble yards before throwing the pass to Pettis, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.

          Chicago's offense has lacked explosion outside of Fields' third-quarter play. Prior to the Pettis' touchdown, Fields' deepest completion was 2 air yards.