2024 Week 3: Bears 16, Colts 21
Two bad teams faced off and one of them had to win it so that’s exactly what happened.
The Colts (1-2) have been in all 3 of their games so far, but their defense is so hurt, and their offense is so unreliable. Indy has Pittsburgh next week and if they can pull off some Anthony Richardson magic they might just go on a run here.
Chicago (1-2) played one of the sloppiest games I’ve seen all year but despite that, they were still in it late. The next bunch of games for Chicago are pretty light, 3 home games vs LAR, CAR, JAX, BYE, @WSH, @ARI, then home again facing New England. Weeks 11-18 the bears play 6 of their last 7 games against their division opponents. Who made this schedule? AI probably.
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QB Report:
- There’s something wrong with Anthony Richardson (10/20 for 167 yards, 2 INT, 8 rushes for 24 yards) but I can’t diagnose the problem yet. He’s making bad throws at the worst possible time and he isn’t running the ball well at all. AR was close to having a big game but a tipped pass early on turned a TD into an INT. He was also close to a few rushing scores but the ball either went his way or he handed it off on an option play.
- The big story of this game, the Prodigal Son Caleb Williams has arrived and is ready to take on the league by storm. Look out Kansas City, this is Caleb’s league now.
- Hopefully you can detect the sarcasm in that… Caleb (33/52 for 363 yards, 2 TDs/2 INTs, 8 rush yards) handed this game to Indy multiple times but their offense was never able to take advantage of the turnovers early in this game. A better/ more consistent team would have been up by 3+ scores and we may have been on our way to a Saints-Panthers type of rout.
- Just before the half Caleb heaved up a pass that was tipped and then caught for a 44 yard gain, and DJ Moore (8-78-0/10) was downed just shy of the end zone. A lot of his yards came on that play and then late against a prevent defense. Caleb threw up two more gifts but Colts defenders got their hands on them but couldn’t come down with the turnovers.
- Caleb has some great physical tools but he doesn’t have the mental side of playing QB. The Colts were clearly not afraid of him throwing on them and they looked like they welcomed the deep ball.. They had 2 INTs and it could have been 4/5+. Any amount of pressure and Williams loses all ability to throw the ball.
RB Report:
- The Bears want to run the ball… I think they want to be what the Pittsburgh Steelers are – Dominant defense and run game, (here’s the Caleb pipedream) with an ace QB that will pick you apart if you over play the run/Caleb’s scrambling ability.
- D’Andre Swift (13-20-0, 2 catches for 22-0/4) is starting to lose favor with this coaching staff for good reason. Keeping the ground-and-pound ideals in mind, Roschon Johnson (8-30-0, 4 catches for 32-0/5) had a lot of carries early on.
- Johnson and Swift will very likely split carries going forward, but the o-line is so bad and Caleb doesn’t scare opponents so they are overplaying the run game. Swift was paid way too much money this offseason.
WR Report:
- Rome Odunze (6-112-1/11) finally showed why he was deserving of being the third receiver off the board. Rome being Caleb’s first look happened sooner than expected but he looked really good here, the targets had purpose. The passing numbers were inflated due to the 52 passing attempts so no one’s numbers will be as good as they were in this one. Just a reminder as this offense keeps moving forward.
- Cole Kmet (10-97-1/11) and DJ Moore (8-78-0/10) both had big games thanks to the inflated pass attempts. When Keenan Allen (DNP) returns there will be too many mouths to feed in this limited passing game.
- The Josh Downs (3-22-0/5) debut looked good, but this such an inconsistent air attack you can’t rely on anyone.
- Alec Pierce (1-44-0/2) came back down to Earth but it was against a strong Bears pass defense.
- Should I even mention Michael Pittman (4-36-0/5)? He’s not an important piece in this offense.
D/ST Report:
- Laiatu Latu (1 tackle, 1 sack, 1 TFL, 1 FF) made the game saving play, forcing a fumble on Caleb Williams late in the 4th quarter. Latu only played 35% of the snaps this game. I’m not sure why they aren’t going all-in on Latu. First defensive player drafted in 2024 and he’s playing limited snaps.
image source: (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)