Week 11 marked the Chicago Bears first rematch with a divisional opponent this season as they made a trip north to Minnesota, seeking revenge against a Vikings team that ripped a primetime victory away from them in the first game of the season. Despite both teams feeling very different entering this matchup, the game itself actually played out fairly similarly to the Monday Night Football game that started the year (at least from a general game flow standpoint). The Bears were able to take an early
lead over a struggling J.J. McCarthy-led Vikings offense, but weren’t quite able to put the game out of reach before a late comeback put Minnesota on top late. The difference in this one, of course, was that Chicago has seemingly found winning magic of late and following a key kick return from Devin Duvernay, a Cairo Santos field goal was enough to secure the first victory over a divisional opponent in the Ben Johnson era. This is a good thing, we’re here to check in on the offensive production:
Quarterback
Caleb Williams
Comp: 2022 Jared Goff
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Immediate reaction to Caleb’s performance seemed to be negative, but reviews in the days since seem to have lightened up some based on drops, decision-making, etc. It’s safe to classify this outing as “mixed” overall for the young quarterback. He failed to account for a score, but you also have to give credit to the quality defense that he and Ben Johnson were facing in the Vikings and Minnesota Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores. Williams and Johnson both praised Flores leading up to and following the game and there’s a reason that the veteran DC is so highly-regarded around the league. In the big picture, we see Caleb’s completion percentage dip below 60% on the season and his projected passing yard total fall below 4,000 (for those invested in historical franchise benchmarks).
Running Backs
D’Andre Swift
Comp: 2022 D’Andre Swift
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D’Andre Swift may not have recorded a score, but he was the offensive standout on the day – especially if you value Tom Brady’s opinion. The recipient of Brady’s prestigious “LFG” award for week 11 rushed 21 times for 90 yards. His 4.3 yards per carry was a significant different change from the 3.1 he averaged when these teams first met at Soldier Field. Scoring production isn’t necessarily there (a trend for the Bears offense as a whole) but Swift has put in a very solid season after a slow start to the year.
Kyle Monangai, DJ Moore, Roschon Johnson, etc.
Comp: 2024 David Montgomery
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Monangai has a true complimentary game to Swift in that his yardage production wasn’t necessarily there, but he did punch in Chicago’s only touchdown of the day. The rookie clearly has the trust of the coaching staff, and while the reserve RBs don’t seem to threaten much in the passing game, the rushing production continues to chug along.
Tight Ends
Kmet and Loveland, who we’ve largely talked about in conversations about when and how the tight end role would be expanded in this Bears offense, were the bright spots in the receiving game in Minnesota. Kmet caught all 5 of his targets and was Caleb Williams’ leading receiver on the day, while Loveland added 3 of 4 and was just a single yard behind 2nd place Rome Odunze. This was likely more indicative of a poor showing for the wide receivers than a sign of things to come for the tight ends, but we can hope!
Cole Kmet
Comp: 2021 T.J. Hockenson
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Colston Loveland
Comp: 2023 Sam LaPorta
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Wide Receivers
As mentioned above, this was a poor showing across the board for the Bears’ wide receivers. The top 4 players on the WR depth chart (Odunze, Moore, Zaccheaus, and Burden) were targeted 16 times and recorded only 6 catches for 86 yards. This includes a zero target day for OZ who was outsnapped by Luther Burden for the first time this season. The drops were a troubling trend to see linger again this week, and something we will definitely want to see an end to sooner rather than later if this team is going to remain successful now that they are facing tougher competition.
DJ Moore
Comp: 2024 Amon-Ra St. Brown
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Rome Odunze
Comp: 2024 Jameson Williams
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Olamide Zaccheaus
Comp: 2023 Josh Reynolds
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Luther Burden III
Comp: 2023 Jameson Williams
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