The Chicago Bears have one of the best offenses in the NFL. They're 3rd in yards and 7th in points. Nobody on the planet saw that coming, at least not this quickly. They knew head coach Ben Johnson was a wizard. However, it was felt he'd need time to get things in order, cleaning up the mess left by Matt Eberflus. Instead, the Bears have the second-best rushing attack in the league while Caleb Williams has 17 total touchdowns and only four interceptions. The craziest part is the Bears are doing all of this while hamstringing themselves from a personnel standpoint.
One of the more frustrating decisions by Johnson and his staff was not getting the team's high draft choices more involved with the offense early. That was reinforced the past two weeks when Colston Loveland and Luther Burden proved instrumental in the comeback wins over Cincinnati and New York. If that wasn't evidence enough, a new stat chart illustrates it further. It shows every wide receiver's ability to gain separation this season against zone and man coverage.
Olamide Zacchaeus, who has started over Burden since the season began, is in an ugly spot.
The Chicago Bears have to accept reality with Zacchaeus.
Signing the veteran receiver made sense at the time. He'd had a good year in Washington last season and would fit the team's need for a slot option. The problem is he hasn't been able to get going despite being the second-most targeted player on the team. His three drops against the Giants last week made it look even worse. The Chicago Bears love his versatility, but the playmaking hasn't been there. Meanwhile, Burden has the same number of touchdowns and almost the same number of yards despite maybe a quarter of the targets.
Coach Johnson already hinted that getting Burden more involved might be a focus moving forward. That chart should only reinforce such a decision. Zacchaeus is holding the offense back. A player should only get so many opportunities before a team accepts that reality.
