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Well, you have to hand it to the 2022 Chicago Bears. They were probably the most entertaining horrible team in recent NFL history. Quarterback Justin Fields broke out in his second season and won plenty of Daily Fantasy pots, Fantasy Football Championships and just three actual games on the field.
Fields put up video game numbers and I’m sure, once Madden updated the rosters at the end of the season, probably won plenty of those fake games too. He completed 60.4 percent of his passes for 2,242 yards with one of the worst receiving groups in the NFL for 17 touchdowns and just 11 interceptions. He rushed for 1,143 yards and eight touchdowns to lead the team, which isn’t what you want. It’s great when your QB can be a dual threat weapon. It’s bad when he’s the only weapon you have. Fields’ rushing total was the best for a QB in all the NFL’s history and he’s just the third quarterback, joining Lamar Jackson and Michael Vick, to cross the 1,000 yard barrier.
With the threat of Fields, the Bears were able to get some solid rushing performances out of David Montgomery (801 yards and five touchdowns ) and Khalil Herbert (731 yards and four touchdowns), but it was the receivers that didn’t do a whole lot. And the offensive line. And, well, the entire Bears team. This was a rough unit that was in for a bad year and they had it. The fact that Scott Hanson could pitch to Chicago on NFL Red Zone with some excitement without apologizing to the audience was the freakish thing. And that was all thanks to Fields.
The Bears made a midseason trade for Chase Claypool with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the jury is still out on if that was a solid move or not. Claypool’s talent is not up for debate. His work ethic and personality might be. Maybe if Mike Tomlin is ready to chuck a receiver, the rest of the NFL just needs to back away like they’ve just encountered a cobra coiled with its hood open. Darnell Mooney caught 40 passes for 493 yards and two touchdowns to lead the pass catchers, but he was coming off an 81-catch, 1,055-yard, four touchdown season, so it was a disappointment. This is the last year of Mooney’s rookie contract and he’s set to be a free agent in 2024, so he’ll need to get back to that 2021 form if he wants to get paid. The receiver room will be much improved in 2023, so he’ll have to earn his touches.
The bright spots outside of Fields’ overall play? I’d pick that Week 1 shameful defeat over the San Francisco 49ers and quarterback Trey Lance, who was taken eight picks ahead of Fields, would count. They also put forth a 33-14 beat down at the New England Patriots that Bill Belichick is still cursing his crappy sons out over. Seven of their 14 losses were by a single score, and that usually bodes well for the upcoming campaign. Especially when the team that takes the field in 2023 will be significantly better.
CHICAGO BEARS
2022-23 Record: 3-14
Playoffs: N/A
2023 NFC Championship Odds: +2500
NOW WHAT?
Yeah, I said they’d be better, but I’d still not say they should be “good.” Regardless of what the Madden game engine is telling people and a Chicago fanbase that finally has something to root for is deluding themselves with, this is a team with massive roster problems. They did address one of them when they traded out of the No. 1 overall pick and got DJ Moore tossed in on the deal from the Carolina Panthers. That gives them a serious three-man wide receiver group with Mooney and Claypool, if he can keep his head out of his ass.
The schedule is not friendly. I would not be shocked at all to see the Bears break their Green Bay Packers curse in Week 1 and even conceivably open the year 2-0 when they travel to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 2. It’s Weeks 3 and 4 (Kansas City Chiefs and Sean Payton Denver Broncos) where the tires come off the road. They get a break with a Thursday night contest after what looks like two straight losses with the tanking Washington Commanders only to face the Minnesota Vikings, Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Chargers and New Orleans Saints over the next month. That will probably wrap up any playoff talk.
I don’t see the Bears atop next year’s draft again, but there’s no way there’s more than seven wins on this schedule.
THE DRAFT
Trading down and leaning into Fields, and his talents, was the right move for general manager Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus. Getting Moore tossed in was just the icing on the cookie cake. With the first round pick they got from the Panthers, they took offensive tackle Darnell Wright out of Tennessee, then shored up the defensive line with Gervon Dexter from Florida and the defensive backfield with Tyrique Stevenson at corner from Miami in the second. In the third, they went back to the defensive front with Zacch Pickents, defensive tackle from South Carolina. All that earned them a B- on my NFL Draft Grades, which won’t be enough to catch the playoff field, but will set a solid foundation for a team that has two first rounders (both of which should be in the top half of the draft) in 2024.
FREE AGENCY
Chicago didn’t sit on its wallet in free agency, helping their offense with the additions of guard Nate Davis from the Tennessee Titans, back up QB PJ Walker from the Carolina Panthers, running backs Travis Horner from the Seattle Seahawks and D’Onta Foreman from the Houston Texans and tight end Robert Tonyan from the Green Bay Packers.
Defense is where they really spent some cash, adding linebacker Dylan Cole and defensive end DeMarcus Walker from the Titans, linebacker Tremaine Edmunds from the Buffalo Bills, linebacker TJ Edwards from the Philadelphia Eagles and defensive end Rasheem Green from the Houston Texans
NFC NORTH
The NFC North is going to look very different with Aaron Rodgers out of Green Bay, but the Minnesota Vikings are easily the class of this division and should repeat as champions. The Detroit Lions are simply two years ahead of the Bears right now, but the Packers, tossing Jordan Love to the wolves, can be caught. I think Chicago finishes third at best, but good things are coming.
Follow Adam Greene on Twitter @TheFirstMan.
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