Many things go into why an NFL offense struggles. It is so easy to just blame the quarterback. Is Justin Fields playing great football? No. He's made his share of mistakes. As a rookie, that was always going to be the case for the Chicago Bears. Context is always key in these situations. A couple of questions should be asked. Has his protection been good enough? No. Have his receivers been consistently open? Also no.
That second part is perhaps the most alarming in all of this. The Bears were convinced they'd "upgraded" at wide receiver this offseason. After all, they certainly did their best to find more speed. Guys like Marquise Goodwin and Damiere Byrd were prime targets. Along with Allen Robinson and an ascending Darnell Mooney? This had the makings of a strong group. Or so everybody thought.
The numbers illustrate players who've had a difficult time getting open consistently.
I did some research and found an interesting stat. Something called "contested targets." In other words, these were passes where a defender was right on top of a receiver. After compiling the numbers so far this season, I came away with this data.- 91 targets were to Bears WRs
- 25 were contested (27.47%)
- 10 were caught
- 105 targets to WRs
- 20 were contested (19.04%)
- 12 were caught
- 106 targets to WRs
- 14 were contested (13.20%)
- 8 were caught
- 94 targets to WRs
- 24 were contested (25.53%)
- 18 were caught







