Windy City Gridiron
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:
Caleb Williams
Comp: 2022 Jared Goff
Benchmark Statistics:
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).
D’Andre Swift
Comp: 2022 D’Andre Swift
Benchmark Statistics:
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
Benchmark Statistics:
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.
Kmet and Loveland, who we’ve...
