Bear Digest

Bears' offense led the league in embarrassing statistic

The Bears have a huge problem on offense that could sink their playoff hopes.
Pete Martuneac|
Matt Marton-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Chicago Bears fans have a long list of things to be excited about from the 2025 NFL season. Head coach Ben Johnson is everything he was billed to be. Caleb Williams cut his sack total by nearly two-thirds and improved his deep ball accuracy significantly. Colston Loveland is one of the highest graded first-round rookies from his class, and even Kyle Monangai, a seventh-round rookie, could be a budding star.

However, the Bears also have a lot to clean up before they can be considered true contenders, even on offense. Bears fans know all about the defensive issues, and one has to hope that general manager Ryan Poles will invest heavily on that side of the ball this offseason, but the offense has a few ugly warts of its own, mostly in the wide receiver room.

Entering 2025, the Bears were expected to have an elite wide receiver room, one that could potentially produce two 1,000-yard receivers this season. Not only did none of them come close to 1,000 yards, but they in fact led the league in passing yards lost due to drops with 404. Keep in mind that this only accounts for air yards, not potential yards after the catch. Luther Burden's drop on Chicago's final drive in their humiliating Week 18 loss, for example, travelled only three or four air yards, but could have easily gone for a huge gain.

Adding insult to injury, these yards lost to drops could have gotten Caleb Williams far past 4,000 passing yards on the season. Instead, Williams fell agonizingly short of Bears history.

The Bears may need even more help at wide receiver

For as many close games as the Bears were in this year, that number is simply unacceptable, and it won't fly now that we've reached the playoffs. The Packers' defense may be wounded, but they're still dangerous enough to make the Bears pay for every missed opportunity. A drop in the endzone could mean the difference between moving on to the Divisional round or seeing their season come to an end.

This receiver room is too talented to lead the league in such an embarrassing statistic. Or are they? Rome Odunze, after a hot start to the season, became a liability in the passing game with his drops. Olamide Zaccheaus had a few brutal drops of his own, too, which led to his soft benching in favor of Burden.

In their defense, I will say that Williams launches the ball like a rocket, and it can be difficult to hang on to. But that's part of what makes him such a great quarterback, and these receivers need to figure out how to hang on to the ball. If they can't, Ryan Poles will have to find some receivers who will.

Caleb William
David Banks-Imagn Images

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Pete Martuneac
PETE MARTUNEAC

A former Marine and Purdue Boilermaker, Pete has been covering the Chicago Bears since 2022 as a senior contributor on BearsTalk. He lives with his wife, two kids and loyal dog.

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