The Chicago Bears have been allergic to effectively passing the football for most of the modern era. There are multiple reasons that go into this. It starts with their quarterback situation. They’ve fielded mostly scrubs during the many previous decades. When they’ve had decent signal callers, the problems manifested elsewhere. They rarely fielded an adequate offensive line or surrounded the quarterback with second-rate receivers. Last but not least, the coaches they’ve hired to run the offenses often lack the organization know-how.
There have been a few instances where everything seemed to come together. Once in 1995, again in 2013, and a final time in 2018. Beyond that, it’s been a mix of meh or really bad. Maybe this season might be different. Sports Illustrated insider Matt Verderame thinks so. He believes the Bears have put together a passing attack that people should take notice of. He went so far as to call it a strength of the team. His reasoning for this stance comes from two key factors. An improving quarterback and reinforced arsenal of receivers.
“This is a stark change from last year, when the passing game was a disaster. This season Fields has the look of a dramatically improving quarterback, and he now has a true top-end receiver on the perimeter in Moore.
With Moore joining the fray, Darnell Mooney will go from an underwhelming No. 1 to a quality second option. Going further down the depth chart, Chase Claypool makes more sense as a third pass catcher, with Velus Jones Jr. and Equanimeous St. Brown filling out the room.
It’s not the Greatest Show on Turf, but the Bears have a real group with upside.”
It’s okay to believe the Chicago Bears will be better.
Good? That is up for debate but definitely improved. GM Ryan Poles did everything in his power to make sure of that. Adding D.J. Moore is huge. He’s one of the 10-15 best wide receivers in the league. Maybe not Justin Jefferson or Tyreek Hill but certainly a Stefon Diggs-type. Everybody saw what he did for Josh Allen in Buffalo. Moore immediately takes the pressure off guys like Darnell Mooney, Chase Claypool, and Cole Kmet. That should lead to easy completions for Fields.
The big question is the offensive line. Poles did most of his work there. He signed Nate Davis to play right guard in free agency. Then he added right tackle Darnell Wright in the 1st round. This enabled the Chicago Bears to shift Teven Jenkins to left guard and Cody Whitehair to center. On paper, this group looks much improved from last season. If they play up to their potential, Fields has proven he can be lethal when protected. So what Verderame says isn’t crazy.
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