Windy City Gridiron
The NFL season is an evolving state of affairs, and week 17 finds your Chicago Bears firmly atop the NFC North and as the #2 seed in the NFC with an 11-4 record after yet another come-from-behind victory, their 6th this season, against the Green Bay Packers. This week, Chicago travels to the Bay Area for a Sunday Night matchup against the 11-4 San Francisco 49ers to keep their hopes of a chance at the NFC’s 1 seed alive.
In this weekly series, I’ll be featuring one player from each team on each side of the ball who I believe to be integral to their respective team’s success. It’s not always about the quarterback or superstar defensive players like Myles Garrett or Nick Bosa. Importance is all relative, and while the “star” players are obviously important each week, this series will also highlight some of the other guys.
Because let’s face it, often, the unsung players are just as critical to the team’s success.
Here are the players that I will be keyed in on in this one.
With 9 catches for 166 yards and 3 TDs in his last two games, there may not be a single more important offensive player on the Bears, when it comes to the playoff push, than DJ Moore. Earning himself a game ball in each of the last two games, DJ has essentially carried the passing game on his back without fellow WRs Rome Odunze and Luther Burden III. With both WRs still not practicing fully, I expect the passing game to once again flow through DJ.
If Caleb can find his resurgent WR early and often, I expect the Bears to move the ball and score plenty of points in what figures to be an offensive shootout. If DJ is rendered ineffective or simply cannot continue the momentum of the last couple weeks, then Chicago will be forced to rely on the run game and the backup WRs and TEs in the passing game. While that has proven to be a formidable arsenal thus far, it may not be potent enough to keep pace with the high-powered 49ers attack.
In his first game action in over a month due to injury, Edmunds played over 90% of defensive snaps and recorded his first fumble recovery on the season, adding to his 4 takeaways on the season. Though understandably did not appear to be back to full strength and/or full speed, it was nice to have Maine back in the lineup.
Hopefully, he will have all the rust knocked off before this week’s contest against the 49ers, as he will be tasked with covering Christian McCaffrey in the passing game and tracking him down in the run game. With 92 catches and 849 yards and a career high 7 receiving TDs already on the season, in addition to his 1,000-plus yards and 9 TDs on the...
