Bears @ Cardinals
Final Score: Cardinals 29 – Bears 9
Writer: Zach Whetsel
The Cardinals defended their home turf today against a Bears team that came into the game seemingly already knowing their season was over. Eberflus fell to a 3-18 record on the road since 2022, and the Cardinals moved to 5-4 in their first year under Gannon, securing a positive record going into next week and moving much closer to a positive scoring differential on the year. While the Bears fell to .500 at 4-4 and secured last place in the NFC North, the Cardinals now hold claim to first place in the NFC West and have to feel fairly solid about their upward trajectory heading into the second half of the season. It was an unfortunate viewing experience for anyone but Cardinals fans today, and the results were fairly unsurprising in both fantasy and real life for anyone tuned into the narratives surrounding these teams coming into the game.
Three Up
- James Conner – James Conner is the engine of the Cardinals’ offense, and when the Cardinals need dependable production, he’s their guy. Conner runs with intention every time he touches the ball and refuses to go down at first contact. On an offense that can be frustratingly streaky, Conner is the one thing that can be counted on to come through with positive production every time it counts. The only thing to watch for is that the Cards’ o-line isn’t great–against the best run fronts, they may struggle to get push for him. Regardless, Benson isn’t taking Conner’s job anytime soon.
- Trey McBride – If James Conner is the most reliable piece of the offense overall, McBride is a close second, and by far the most steady piece of the team’s passing game. At this point, he feels like a lock for double-digit points each week, which is a hard find from the tight end position this year. Whether it be through scoring touchdowns or earning the tough yards through the air, McBride makes his presence felt for this team in every game. His production is equal parts appreciated and necessary in this offense, as every other part of the air attack is frustratingly streaky. Trey McBride is continuing to cement his case as the only truly successful pick of the early-round tight ends this season.
- Rome Odunze – While Rome Odunze didn’t have a monster game, it was nice to see his second 100+ yard performance in his young career. He was about the only Bears receiver to achieve production with his targets and the only player on the offense to have any notable production at all. So, while the target share still left him third in the pecking order behind DJ Moore and Keenan Allen, it was certainly a positive to see him make something happen on a day when nobody else could for the Bears.
Three Down
- DJ Moore – The supposed alpha-#1 receiver for the Bears went another game without having any meaningful looks schemed up for him. On 9 targets, DJ Moore secured only 4 short catches for 33 yards and seemed extremely frustrated as he was left running meaningless routes time and time again. Too many times today, he was the recipient of passes that sailed right overhead or attempts that had no shot as he was blanketed by coverage that knew exactly what was coming. DJ Moore was thankful to have gotten the guaranteed extension during the offseason that tied him to the Bears for six more years… now, though, I’m sure he’s having nightmares at the thought of being stuck in this offense for the rest of his career.
- Keenan Allen – I’m sure Keenan Allen hoped that all the talent surrounding him in this receiving room would help take a load off his back this season as he looked to secure one more payday before calling it a career, but it’s not going to happen with the way things are going for him either. While Allen clearly still has talent and is seemingly extremely close to being the ever-reliable All-Pro that we know him to be, the incompetence of the team has left him making mental mistakes as well, and today was ugly overall as a result. I’m not saying it’s Allen’s fault, but he’s not going to suddenly overcome the issues that plague the Bears, either.
- Caleb Williams – This week’s writeup has me wishing I could copy and paste part of what I put down last week because, again, I’m saving the worst for last with Caleb Williams. While he doesn’t look abjectly terrible, which is an improvement from how it’s felt watching former Bears QBs deal with the organizational failures that plague the team, Caleb’s accuracy issues downfield are becoming extremely concerning to see each week. He’s smart with the football and doesn’t make terrible decisions. He’s able to dance around the pocket more impressively than most QBs in the league, and he can throw from any angle… but none of that matters when every pass longer than 15 yards is seemingly more likely to be uncatchable than on-target. The alarm bells aren’t sounding yet–there’s plenty of good to point to despite how much of a joke the Bears always manage to be–but the accuracy issues are certainly not helping things.
Chicago Bears
Quarterback
Caleb Williams: 22/41 passing, 216 yards | 4 carries, 6 yards
If Caleb Williams could be trusted to hit his targets on medium and deep passes, all my concerns as a Bears fan would melt away. He looks (for the most part- he’s still a rookie) quick to read and react to what’s in front of him, isn’t making bad decisions despite extreme and constant pressure, and is more than able to navigate an NFL pocket with grace. Unfortunately, he misses throws each game beyond 15 yards at a frequent enough rate that it’s becoming concerning. There were 5 to 7 throws today alone that would have been completions if Caleb had put the ball on the money, and while you can’t ever expect every pass to hit, the fact that every deep ball is expected to miss at this point is a major problem. You can even feel the frustration in the receivers when another pass is sailed over them.
To be clear, that is not meant to dump on Caleb Williams. I have watched many Bears QBs, and he has more natural talent and mental ability than any QB I’ve seen in a Bears uniform in a very long time. It is concerning, though, and feels like the worst indictment of this team possible. Expecting the rookie to save the offense with near-perfect quarterbacking each week is foolish at best and really just insane, and the accuracy issues feel unsurprising, considering how terrible everything else is around him. For fantasy purposes, though, the talent must be evaluated, and that is easily the most concerning aspect of Caleb’s performance so far in his young career. It needs to be fixed, but we’ll have to see if the Bears are capable of helping him do that.
Notes
- Caleb avoided any mental errors or terrible decisions that could have made this game much uglier than it was, which is impressive considering he threw 41 pass attempts and had a poor running game backing him up for most of the game. But it was painful to see him as frustrated as he was by the end–it seemed like a countless number of plays started with him evading multiple defenders and escaping a sack, just to realize there was still nowhere to throw the ball as he moved towards the sideline and eventually took his free yard or two running out of bounds. I could not imagine trying to quarterback such an inept offense behind that o-line, knowing that you’d have to give everything you had each play just to stay even for the next one.
Missed Opportunities
- Again, the missed opportunities were plastered all over the film today, and they are concerning. He missed several throws in the 10-25-yard range, whether through sailing touch passes between zones along the sidelines or missing receivers a step behind while he scrambled and tried to create. The most common miss, though, and one that presented itself again today, is on Caleb’s deep ball- he sails them straight out of bounds way too often to feel comfortable with his development as a QB in that department. It’s a truly tough line to draw when evaluating his struggles because Caleb does tons right despite how bad everything is around him. But it cannot be ignored that the most important part of being a QB is getting the ball to your receivers, and he’s missing on that front pretty badly right now.
Running Back
D’Andre Swift: 16 carries, 51 yards | 6/6 receiving, 31 yards
Swift had another acceptable day today for fantasy football standards, as long as you own him in his best format, PPR. However, his lack of efficiency should be pointed to as a concern moving forward, and the window to sell may have already closed with that in mind. Swift is great in open space and is a plus receiver at the position, which was something the Bears finally realized today as they seemed to intentionally make him a check down option on most plays, but he cannot create his own yards with power when running through traffic, and the o-line he’s running behind is not good enough to create them for him against quality defensive fronts. Even against defenses that are middling against the run, when the team commits to jamming up running lanes, Swift will not find much room to work. As for fantasy football, you have to hope that the offense figures out how to score through the air because Swift will benefit if they do. But don’t expect many more quality games from him on the ground this season as the Bears move into a stretch of games stacked with quality divisional opponents within the NFC North.
Roschon Johnson: 3 carries, 13 yards | 2/3 receiving, 8 yards
Roschon didn’t need goal-line opportunities to log some touches today, but of course, he’d have needed them to find meaningful fantasy production in his opportunities. Again, Roschon is a reliable pass blocker and receiver, but he’s a plodder who is not a plus runner aside from being strong at the point of contact. His best hope for real production is through punching in touchdowns, which obviously did not come in today’s game against the Cardinals.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Rome Odunze: 5/7 receiving, 104 yards
Rome had his second career game with over 100 yards receiving and was seemingly a focus of the offense early. While he looked quite good with his opportunities to start things off, he did have a drop along the sidelines that would have added ~20 yards to his total line where the ball hit him in the hands, and he just did not reel it in. Otherwise, he made the most of things early and ended up staying mostly quiet for the second half, and it was a nice performance for the young rookie overall. He should make an extremely quality compliment to Moore as WR2 in this offense for years to come, and as things hopefully progress with his chemistry with Caleb, he even seems talented enough to take over as the eventual WR1 for the Bears. Of course, for this season, his production will remain spotty at best as the offense struggles to figure things out. Enjoy the nice games as they come, and look to the future for his eventual maturation into a reliable fantasy receiver.
Keenan Allen: 4/10 receiving, 35 yards
Keenan Allen unfortunately had what might have been his worst game for the Bears today. While he didn’t do anything atrociously bad, he dropped one pass that hit him in the chest on third down near halftime that would have let the Bears keep driving. After they punted as a result, the Cardinals busted off a long run for a touchdown and never looked back as they dusted the Bears throughout the second half. While the touchdown wasn’t exactly Keenan’s fault, it was a representation of his failures in the offense today, where he just couldn’t quite get on the same page as Caleb despite massive target volume. I think Keenan still has all the talent that has made him great in the past, but it won’t be enough to overcome the offense’s struggles as a whole and will likely result in him having more frustrating moments where he lowers himself to the level of the rest of the team instead. I’m sure he’ll have solid games, but he might not be reliable again until he can hopefully land in a better situation next year.
DJ Moore: 4/9 receiving, 33 yards
Once again, DJ Moore’s talent was wasted in an offense that has no clue how to use him. While he is not great at creating separation on long-developing routes, as I’ve said time and time again, he is a monster in the short game and at the catch point, and if you can just get the ball in his hands reliably, he will create great things with YAC. Unfortunately, this offense cannot figure out how to do that, and DJ is left watching deep balls sail over his head or fighting for difficult yards on the occasional screens that he is given to work with. It’s the most frustrating difference from last year to this- this offense should be immensely more talented than last season’s, yet they have no clue how to get the ball to their playmakers. At least last season, DJ Moore was given ample opportunity to bully corners every game. This year, he’s a ghost.
Gerald Everett: 1/1 receiving, 5 yards
This is the one and only blurb I will copy and paste forever more to address Everett’s one or two targets per game this season while Kmet wastes away with worse usage:
Everett is the player I like the least when it comes to getting targets in this offense, both because it reminds me that his contract could have gone toward the o-line instead and because it’s a reminder that he’s getting looks that I’d rather see going to Kmet. Everett is not a bad tight end, but he’s unremarkable and will never be a main contributor to this offense. I’d even love to leave him off this list in the future!
Cole Kmet: 0/0 receiving, 0 yards
I just cannot say enough how livid it makes me that Shane Waldron will not try to feature Cole Kmet in any capacity in this Bears’ offensive scheme. He is not Kittle or Kelce, but he is the most consistent receiver on the team right now and can be trusted to catch every single ball thrown his way. When the offense is floundering, there is zero reason not to try working him for easy yards over the middle. But the coaches refuse to do it. And I promise, it’s not just that Caleb isn’t targeting him- Kmet is a ghost in this offense right now and is not being schemed into things whatsoever. Not even a little. Stay far, far away until next season if you want reliability from the TE position at all, and just know that he is more talented than these bust games make things look.
Arizona Cardinals
Quarterback
Kyler Murray: 13/20 passing, 154 yards, 1 fumble | 2 carries, 6 yards
Kyler Murray will have better games in his future for sure, but today was not meant to be his day to shine. The Cardinals did the smart thing and simply asked him to manage the offense and avoid mistakes today while they watched the Bears implode on themselves. Unfortunately for Murray and MHJ fantasy owners, the Bears’ secondary is still extremely talented, even with multiple starters missing, so it was never going to be a game where Kyler would throw much unless that became necessary. And it wasn’t: Murray kept the offense in favorable situations, took points where they came, and kept mostly clean on low volume. Future weeks will ask more of him and the passing attack as a whole, but tonight just was not his to own. Take solace in the fact that Murray kept things fairly tight and was mistake-free passing the ball after a new COD game came out–remain certain and hopeful that more production will be necessary to win moving forward.
Running Back
James Conner: 18 carries, 107 yards | 3/3 receiving, 12 yards
As the main actor in the offense tonight, James Conner did his duty admirably and tore up a Bears defense that did not come to play. He broke tackles all night and feasted on the defense’s unwillingness to play with heart, even though he, unfortunately, was not the ultimate recipient of the Cardinals’ touchdowns of the day. Conner took one big hit trying to punch in a score near the pylon, where he was flipped by a desperate Bears linebacker earlier in the game and there was a scary moment where he looked like he may have been hurt… but he hopped right back up and kept eating throughout the rest of the game. As the relentless piston that just keeps pumping to keep the Cardinals’ offense on track, Conner stands alone as the best player on their team- nobody else fills the role as the heart of the Cardinals like Conner so willingly does. While a touchdown could have easily taken this week from good to great, Conner remains a strong start with confidence as the team moves on to more challenging opponents in the future. The team will need him.
Emari Demercado: 4 carries, 59 yards, 1 TD | 2/2 receiving, 21 yards
Emari Demercado certainly could not fill the role as the engine of the offense if Conner were to go down, but he does a great job in the passing game and in providing some killer speed that the other backs in the room lack. Demercado is the one who busted off the 53-yard touchdown to end the first half and take a commanding lead into halftime, and it wouldn’t have happened if not for his ability to kick things into the next gear when he found space. He simply outran the whole defense and was gone by the time he reached the second level. Still, his three other carries only went for 6 yards total, which is a far cry from the efficiency that Conner brings to the table on every-down runs. Demercado just does not run with the same power. Benson would likely step into the lead-back role if Conner were to go down.
Trey Benson: 8 carries, 37 yards, 1 TD | 1/1 receiving, 18 yards
Trey Benson is not coming for Conner’s role as the starter in this offense, but he’s not a bad back in his own right either and is great in relief of Conner in small stints. While I don’t think he did anything particularly special today, he brought much better efficiency to the table than Demercado and seems like the clear #2 pure runner in the room, with a bit of receiving potential as well.
Missed Opportunities
- I did find myself raising my eyebrows on Benson’s one reception. Benson was pushed to the sideline by a weak attempt from a Bears player to shove him out of bounds, but he kept running, clearly thinking he had maintained balance well enough to stay in and possibly break away for a long gain. The ref emphatically blew it dead, but I was curious- it looked like a possibility that he’d made a heads-up play there while the Bears were giving a half-hearted effort. However, the replay showed that it wasn’t the push that sent him out of bounds; Benson actually stepped out before he even reached the Bears defender and did manage to maintain balance through the shove. If not for his lack of awareness before contact in stepping out unprompted, it would have been a great play, but he’d shot himself in the foot before he could make something special happen. It was ultimately a disappointing outcome to what was almost a great play by Benson… simple rookie mistake? Hopefully, the future proves that out, but either way, a lack of awareness that he must clean up if he wants to take the starting job from someone as reliable as Conner.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Trey McBride: 3/4 receiving, 35 yards | 1 carry, 2 yards, 1 TD
Trey McBride is the most reliable receiving option in this offense by far and would be the most reliable player on the team if not for Conner. He simply does his job and, catches balls that are thrown his way and makes sure to fight for yards when they’re there. His touchdown rush came on an end-around in which he had to fight hard for the two yards and the score, just barely extending the ball to the pylon before being pushed out of bounds. If every player on this Cardinals team came with the fight that McBride has each game, they’d be in a much better spot. He’s as reliable as they come, which is exactly what you want from your tight end, both in real life and fantasy. Thankfully for fans and fantasy owners alike, the Cardinals seem to know that, so even on quiet days, they know who to turn to when they need to make something happen.
Elijah Higgins: 2/2 receiving, 34 yards
Elijah Higgins may not be a bad player, but the fact that he owns the second spot in this write-up on the Cardinals receivers after this game certainly still says something about the state of their receiving room. He did his job when called upon, pulling in his only two targets on the day for 34 yards, but he certainly didn’t do anything remarkable, just as the stat line would suggest. Thankfully for the Cardinals, they didn’t need much in the way of receiving today since the Bears were uninterested in scoring or stopping the run, but he should not have ended up with the second-highest yardage total on the team regardless. No offense, Elijah Higgins. He’s a fine receiver and a nice depth piece… but there’s one other name coming that certainly should have been higher.
Marvin Harrison, Jr: 2/5 receiving, 34 yards, 1 fumble
Marvin Harrison, Jr was tasked with arguably his toughest matchup of the season so far in playing against the Bears secondary, but he was still given a handful of targets despite the low passing volume and failed to do much with them. While it may seem unfair to praise McBride’s performance with only one more receiving yard than Marv on the day, it’s all about what I saw, and I did not see a wide receiver willing to play strong against a secondary that likes to take it to their opponents early and often to test them. Marv had a ball ripped from his grip during the late game that would have been a nice catch, but Tyrique Stevenson seemed intent on redeeming himself after his controversy last week and fought hard to prevent the catch, and Harrison lost the battle and dropped the catch.
It was not a truly terrible game, but it still was another bust performance for fantasy on a day where more opportunity was certainly there than what he brought in. The frustration of feeling like the top-five drafted receiver can’t be relied upon against a tough secondary is real, and although it’s certainly not an indictment of his future in the league, I still would have loved to have seen him play this Bears team stronger than he did. The secondary is immensely talented, but the team is quitting on Eberflus as a whole, and Marvin Harrison Jr could have gotten his alongside McBride if he had gone out and taken it. Marv could learn something about how to approach each play with heart from his teammate James Conner.
Greg Dortch: 0/1 receiving, 0 yards | Michael Wilson: 0/1 receiving, 0 yards:
If there are any receivers I could excuse a bust week for considering the talent in the Bears secondary and the overall game script, it’s these two. Neither are the most talented players in the league, and neither are expected to be cornerstones of this offense. While fantasy managers certainly would have hoped for something from either player tonight, it makes plenty of sense to see them both blanking the stat sheet in the same way, considering the circumstances. Expect their levels of production to rise in accordance with Kyler’s passing volume in future games. At least their poor games don’t leave me concerned with the overall consistency of their offense moving forward.