In the latest stop on what’s become somewhat of a revenge tour, the Chicago Bears hosted the the New Orleans Saints in week 6. The Saints, who fired Bears Defensive Coordinator Dennis Allen from his position
as their Head Coach last season, made it interesting with a couple of halftime drives to bring a previously 20-0 Bears’ lead down to a single possession ballgame before Chicago unleashed their running game and slammed the door defensively on Spencer Rattler and co. to secure their fourth straight victory. While it’s great to see the running game keep the momentum they established after the bye week, Caleb Williams and his pass-catchers had a largely ineffective outing. We’ll take a look at where the team stands statistically following the uneven performance:
Quarterback
Caleb Williams
Comp: 2022 Jared Goff
Benchmark Statistics:
Williams put in a poor performance in this one. While it’s unrealistic to expect progression to be a straight line, you’d still like to see the young star excel against an opponent that the team is favored against (and those are few and far between this season). Still, on the flipside, maybe it’s beneficial for the growing pains to come in games that are still winnable, despite the struggles from the quarterback.
Running Backs
D’Andre Swift
Comp: 2022 D’Andre Swift
Benchmark Statistics:
As mentioned above, the Chicago running game continued to hit on all cylinders in this game and Swift was a major component in that. The last two weeks have really strengthened his season as a whole and he’s currently on pace for over 1,600 yards from scrimmage on the season through the first six games of the year.
Kyle Monangai, DJ Moore, Roschon Johnson, etc.
Comp: 2024 David Montgomery
Benchmark Statistics:
Swift’s continued success is a welcomed sight, but perhaps even more welcomed is the emergence of the rookie Kyle Monangai. Monangai took 13 carries for 81 yards and his first career touchdown as a complement to D’Andre Swift. Moore and Johnson each took a single handoff as well for an additional 20 yards combined, giving this group more than double the total rushing yards they previously had on the season.
Tight Ends
Cole Kmet
Comp: 2021 T.J. Hockenson
Benchmark Statistics:
Kmet caught his lone target on the day for 16 yards, but exited early with an injury. He was unable to return, which opened up opportunities for Colston Loveland. Unfortunately, it looks like Kmet will be out for at least one week, so we’ll see what kind of effect that will have on both the run game and target share over the course of a full four quarters.
Colston Loveland
Comp: 2023 Sam LaPorta
Benchmark Statistics:
Loveland was targeted four times and secured three of those targets on what was an underwhelming day for the Bears through the air. You hope it’s not necessarily due to the injury to Kmet, but the rookie was at least more active than previous games. With Kmet likely out against the Ravens, Loveland’s effectiveness will be something to watch as a potential key building block for both this offense and the young player.
Wide Receivers
Across the board, the wide receivers took a big hit in production against the Saints. Williams took accountability for accuracy issues and an inability to connect on throws that have been made in the past, but this was a game most of these guys will want to put behind them as soon as possible.
DJ Moore
Comp: 2024 Amon-Ra St. Brown
Benchmark Statistics:
Rome Odunze
Comp: 2024 Jameson Williams
Benchmark Statistics:
Olamide Zaccheaus
Comp: 2023 Josh Reynolds
Benchmark Statistics:
Luther Burden III
Comp: 2023 Jameson Williams
Benchmark Statistics:
