4 Things Bears Must Do to get Colston Loveland Involved on Offense

The Chicago Bears have a problem on offense, and not just the potential absences of both Caleb Williams and Tyson Bagent in Week 3. Second-year tight end Colston Loveland has just one catch for three yards so far this season, and he's only been targeted five total times. This comes on the heels of a historic ending to his rookie season, one in which Loveland set an NFL record for postseason receiving yards by a rookie tight end.

After that kind of encore to a thrilling rookie season, I fully expected Loveland to be the linchpin of head coach Ben Johnson's passing offense. We'd seen him use Sam LaPorta as a legit receiving threat with the Detroit Lions, and Loveland has an even higher ceiling than LaPorta. Instead, we're left wondering at the confusing disappearance of a budding superstar.

I understand that Johnson wants his offense to be multi-faceted, and we know that, no matter how much horsepower Johnson has in the passing game, his offense is built on a strong run game. But if the Bears are the legit Super Bowl contenders that many expected them to be, they're going to have to be led by their superstars. That makes finding ways to get Loveland more involved imperative for Johnson, and here are four ways he could go about it.

1. Treat Loveland like the superstar that he is

One of Ben Johnson's most baffling decisions from the Bears' Week 2 loss to the Minnesota Vikings was when a critical red zone passing attempt targeted rookie tight end Sam Roush instead of Loveland, and that's inexcusable. Roush dropped what would have been a go-ahead touchdown, one that probably would have won the game for the Bears. Loveland, on the other hand, made almost the exact same catch last year against the Cincinnati Bengals.

You never go away from your superstars in clutch situations, not even to try to catch the other team napping. Johnson would do well to remember that the next time the Bears need a big play in the red zone at the end of a long, frustrating divisional game.

2. Reduce Loveland's pass-blocking duties

Another mistake that Johnson made against the Vikings, this one also involving tight end usage, was to leave Loveland on an island against pass rusher Dallas Turner on the final play of the game. Loveland is good in pass protection, but putting him one-on-one against a rising star in the NFL was coaching malpractice, and Turner blew up the play.

Maybe it was just part of a specific gameplan for the Vikings, who blitz at an absurd rate compared to other defenses, but Loveland should not be pulling so much pass-blocking duty. Cole Kmet can handle that just fine while Loveland gets more opportunities to impact the game.

Chicago Bears TE Colston Loveland after a game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

3. Use the run game to set up mismatches

In the Bears' stunning Black Friday upset of the Eagles last year, the running game dominated from start to finish. That's a formula the Bears will want to try to replicate on Monday, not only because third-string quarterback and likely starter Case Keenum will need to knock off some rust, but also because it could help Loveland exploit some mismatches.

If Kyle Monangai and D'Andre Swift are punishing the Eagles' defense on the ground, their presence on any given play will force the Eagles' linebackers to focus on them, leaving Loveland to be covered by much smaller defensive backs. That opens the door to explosive passes off of play-action, offering Loveland some routine catches over smaller bodies and the opportunity for big yards after the catch.

4. The players have to actually execute

Sometimes, Murphy's Law takes over a football game. That's what it felt like watching the Bears struggle their way to a 3-9 loss to the Vikings last week while Loveland managed just one catch on three targets. Rarely did the players all execute their assignments well at the same time, and that led to missed opportunities. Loveland himself acknowledged this on Tuesday, telling Bears reporter Sean Hammond, "I think I just got to win more and I think if you've watched the tape, there's opportunities there... things just aren't clikcing, and it will eventually."

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