After last Sunday’s loss to the Detroit Lions, everybody in the Chicago Bears locker room had good reason to be disappointed, and that includes wide receiver DJ Moore. Not only was Moore, like the rest of his 52 teammates and every single member of the coaching staff, on the wrong end of a 31-point tail-whooping, but in the loss, Moore posted his eighth straight game with under 100 receiving yards, the longest such stretch in his time with the Bears.
At this point, DJ Moore’s frustration in Chicago has been well-documented and is a matter of public record. Moore was vocal about not wanting the Bears to move on from Justin Fields prior to the 2024 NFL Draft, which to be fair, was understandable considering the Bears closed the 2023 season on a high note and Moore was coming off of the best statistical season of his career.
He infamously walked off the field mid-play last season, though that was a story that was slightly overblown, especially considering numerous Bears seemed to check out from the 2024 season early anyways. And now as the Bears find themselves in an early 0-2 hole, the frustrations are starting to boil over again, this time related to Moore’s role within the offense.
“Do I want mine? Of course. Everybody wants their 100-yard game,” Moore said earlier in the week, per Gene Chamberlain of Sports Illustrated. But here is where Moore’s comment does take a turn. This wasn’t the prototypical Prima donna wide receiver wants his touches sort of speech. It comes off more like DJ Moore recognizes A) He can give the Bears more if they find a way to get him his touches, and B) There’s another receiver in Chicago who is growing into a WR1.
“At the same time, whoever’s going off, we’ve just gotta feed off their energy. When your number gets called, you’ve just gotta do it. His (Rome Odunze’s) number was called a lot and he made the plays when it was there,” Moore continued. Rome Odunze was the Bears receiver with the hot hand against the Lions, and it’s evident through two games he’s the receiver that Caleb Williams has the most trust in and the strongest rapport with.
Odunze set career highs with 7 receptions, 128 yards and 2 touchdowns in Week 2, and through two weeks of the season, the second-year wideout is on pace — assuming he plays all 17 games — to have the second-most receptions (110) and third-most receiving yards (1,402) in a single season in Bears history.
“Just reflecting on this last game that he had, over 120 (yards)? Just gotta keep building on top of that,” Moore added. “This is Year 2 for him and he’s already started off like that. Only can start from there and go up.”
It’s a welcome sign that Rome Odunze is coming into his own. Assuming he can keep up this pace, he will be well-worth the 9th overall pick that the Bears used on him in the 2024 NFL Draft. But too much Odunze and not enough DJ Moore is a problem. For the Bears to be at their best, they need to maximize what Moore can bring to the table.
How Can The Bears Get More Out Of DJ Moore?
Well, to answer that question, a good place to start would be this week at Soldier Field, when the Dallas Cowboys come to town just one week after allowing 450 yards and three touchdowns through the air to Russell Wilson and the New York Giants. That’s right… 36-year-old Russ had the fourth-most passing yards in a single game in New York Giants history last week, and both Malik Nabers (167 receiving yards) and Wan’Dale Robinson (142 yards) were both eating.
There’s no reason why both DJ Moore and Rome Odunze shouldn’t eat plenty on Sunday in Matt Eberflus’ return to Chicago. It’s been lost in the shuffle of an 0-2 start, but the Bears offense has produced more explosive plays than any other offense in the league in the first two weeks of the season besides the Baltimore Ravens. Meanwhile, the Cowboys have surrendered 14 such plays in the first two weeks of the season.