In week 10 of the NFL season, the Chicago Bears welcomed the New York Giants to Soldier Field in what was technically the first “snow game” of the league’s new year. The cold weather, coupled with swirling winds along the lakefront, spelled a recipe for minimal kicking as both teams opted to utilize all four downs on offense early in the game. To the Giants’ credit, they seemed prepared for the challenge of containing this Bears running game and at least didn’t allow them to impose their will in a way
that many may have anticipated. The weather, bad luck, etc. may have also contributed to a number of drops by receivers in the passing game. This hampered what could have been a much bigger day on the scoreboard for Chicago. So how did they ultimately fare, and how did this game (and last week’s because oops – life got in the way of the week 9 update) affect the season-long projections? Let’s take a look:
Quarterback
Caleb Williams
Comp: 2022 Jared Goff
Benchmark Statistics:
Caleb Williams stats from this game look fairly mundane on paper. If you weren’t watching this game, you probably don’t understand why Williams has been getting so much praise for his performance in this matchup (minus his game-winning score, that probably makes sense). But the bulk of the praise from coach Ben Johnson and others this week has centered on Williams’ continued demonstration of his clutch factor late in games as well as his impressive ability to escape sacks. To touch on the latter, last season Caleb was sacked a near record-setting 68 times over the course of the season. He’s currently on track to lower that number to just 26-27. That’s a credit to the o-line and the changes that have been made there, but also to the offensive coaches who have implemented this new scheme, and obviously to Caleb himself who has both adopted this new scheme and worked his sack-avoiding magic on a regular basis.
Running Backs
D’Andre Swift
Comp: 2022 D’Andre Swift
Benchmark Statistics:
Returning to the lineup after one week of rest to an injury that had been ongoing, Swift once again took over the lead back role from Kyle Monangai. Though he didn’t find the endzone in this one, Swift still put up an impressive 6.2 yards per carry, which included a long 25-yard run on the day. His 13 carries and 5 receptions amounted to just shy of 100 yards on the day at 98 total yards from scrimmage.
Kyle Monangai, DJ Moore, Roschon Johnson, etc.
Comp: 2024 David Montgomery
Benchmark Statistics:
Monangai reverted back to the reserve role in Swift’s return, but he was still effective in his limited touches and was able to account for one of the Bears’ touchdowns on the day. This, on top of his enormous day running the ball against the Bengals (plus Britain Brown’s score) have really lifted the season totals for this group, now projected to just surpass 900 yards and 7 TDs on the year.
Tight Ends
Cole Kmet
Comp: 2021 T.J. Hockenson
Benchmark Statistics:
Kmet hasn’t taken off statistically in the new offensive scheme, and it’s hard to nail down exactly why that is. He’s dealt with some injuries that have had him unable to finish a couple games and miss one game entirely, but the TEs in general have also not gotten a ton of usage in the offense until recently. That said, Kmet seems to be one of the skill position players that the coaching staff can count on in the blocking scheme, so having him available is definitely a boon to what the Bears can do on the ground (see Caleb Williams game-winning TD run).
Colston Loveland
Comp: 2023 Sam LaPorta
Benchmark Statistics:
The big development here was Loveland’s performance against the Bengals that was worthy of NFC offensive player of the week honors. The positive trend carried into week 10, as Loveland demonstrated sure hands in competition against the Giants, catching all four of his targets for 55 yards. Despite extremely limited production over the first several weeks, Loveland’s recent outings have his season projection looking a lot closer to what fans had hoped the teams could get from him, though I’m sure we’d all love to see the rookie continue to ascend even more.
Wide Receivers
DJ Moore
Comp: 2024 Amon-Ra St. Brown
Benchmark Statistics:
It’s a good thing that the Bears are winning games. If not, we’d almost certainly be having a DJ Moore problem. The veteran receiver has battled injuries on a regular basis and has managed to make his way on to the field for each competition this season. Unfortunately, Moore still seems to not entirely be on the same page with his quarterback, as there have been a flurry of miscommunications and just out-of-reach passes to contribute to less than expected production on the year from DJ. This includes a catchless game in this matchup against New York. Moore, in my opinion, continues to be a sleeping giant (no pun intended) for the Bears and if they can get that piece of the machinery fitting into place – it’ll open up some very dangerous options for Williams in the latter half of the season.
Rome Odunze
Comp: 2024 Jameson Williams
Benchmark Statistics:
Much was made (by one, very publicly loud individual who happens to be very close to and share a last with Rome) about Rome’s lack of catches and low targets (just three) against the Bengals in week 9. This, despite Odunze being on pace to out-target the next leading receiver by 36 on the year. That narrative seemed to have stemmed from growing frustration from a slump that followed Rome’s extremely hot start to the season, but the Bears (intentionally or not) ended it quickly in this game as Rome was targeted ten times, caught six passes, and scored a touchdown to cap an 86 yard day.
Olamide Zaccheaus
Comp: 2023 Josh Reynolds
Benchmark Statistics:
OZ had a rough day in his return to Washington earlier this season and, unfortunately, this game may have topped that one for disappointing performances. On a day where nearly every Bears receiver seemed to have at least one drop, Zaccheaus had 2-3 (depending on your definition) including a near-touchdown.
Luther Burden III
Comp: 2023 Jameson Williams
Benchmark Statistics:
Burden, like Loveland, managed a perfect catch rate on the day. He caught all three of his targets for 51 yards, playing a critical role in the team’s comeback victory. Burden played nearly half of the offensive snaps against New York, and the combination of his improving performance and upside may prove to give him the edge over OZ for the first time in the next week or two.
