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The Stunning Bears Passing Combo Judged NFL's Best for Efficiency

One analytical passing study turns up a shocking answer for the NFL's most efficient QB-receiver duo for any season over the past 20 years.
Gene Chamberlain|
DJ Moore has been judged one half of the most efficient passing combination in the last 20 years.
DJ Moore has been judged one half of the most efficient passing combination in the last 20 years. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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Chicago Bears

Bears fans apparently didn't realize they had it so good, an neither did GM Ryan Poles.

The Bears' passing game has come to life under coach Ben Johnson, and now their top passing duo has been graded by Pro Football Focus as the most efficient since that analytic website began full operation in 2006.

This should be cause for celebration with most teams but in this case the wide receiver named in this combo is DJ Moore, and, of course, he was traded to the Buffalo Bills.

This analytical look at passing combinations has one other twist regarding the Bears with Moore in the passing attack. The quarterback graded with Moore as the most efficient duo of the past 20 years was not Caleb Williams but Justin Fields.

The website's Mark Chichester looked at several aspects of QB-to-receiver play but the numbers, at least to him, looked striking when it was Justin Fields throwing to Moore in 2023.

"One season, 97 targets, and the best per-play partnership the PFF era has recorded at this volume," Chichester wrote. "Fields threw eight touchdowns and zero interceptions to Moore with a 13.4% big-time throw rate — second in the top 15 only to Deshaun Watson and Will Fuller V — for 1,109 yards and a 139.1 passer rating."

Yes, this was the 2023 Chicago Bears who had a defense ranked No. 1 against the run, tied the 49ers for most interceptions made, and had a quarterback in Fields who helped them finish second in rushing in the league. And they had the most efficient passing combination as well? Remember, this is a team that finished 7-10.

It's all enough to make you throw away your calculator and not look at NFL statistics again. At least it's enough to make someone distrust analytics.

Not only was Fields-to-Moore deemed the most efficient passing combination in PFF history, but second best at producing big-time throws (13.4%).

Bears fans probably didn't realize the pure air greatness they witnessed on a weekly basis in 2023. Or maybe this statistical approach leaves something to be desired?

This passing duo was so efficient and produced so many big-time throws, yet Poles wound up trading away both players. He traded to get Moore and the means to replace Fields with Williams, then dealt Moore after a few rather mundane seasons except for the big catches he made for touchdowns against Green Bay in 2025.

It must be pointed out the stat used to determine this was the most efficient passing duo was EPA/play. EPA is Ben Johnson's pet statistic but the Bears apparently knew how to achieve big numbers with this prior to his arrival.

Of course, this is all embarrassing for PFF because an analytical approach turned up a combination that never produced a winning season and a passer who was traded after his efforts.

Fields to Moore was a big-play duo, as 1,364 yards and eight touchdowns state. However, it was anything but effective even if these numbers say they were efficient. It became predictable and the bigger yards resulted from defenses worrying more about Fields' running rather than his throwing.

Another Bears QB is in the top five for a single season in the same category as Moore and Fields. It doesn't include Williams, either. It's Case Keenum, when he was paired with Kenny Britt for the 2015 St. Louis Rams.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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