The Chicago Bears impressed with their 23-17 victory over the Tennessee Titans last Saturday, with both the offense and defense stepping up and making highlight plays.
The Bears’ explosive performance and exciting players has drawn many eyes to the team, as Chicago has become something of a diamond-in-the-rough in the NFL world. Considering the club’s general affiliation with hard-nosed defensive football, low-scoring games and general mediocrity, the fans are used to the organization being swept under the rug by NFL.
Seemingly out of nowhere, however, NFL media has identified the Bears as a potential breakout team that could be a contender for an NFC playoff spot.
Even as recently as a couple of weeks ago, ESPN host Mike Greenberg took a drastic stance on QB Justin Fields, stating that Fields will be the next superstar QB in the NFL. Now in the last couple days, FanDuel TV’s Kay Adams weighed in on Chicago’s outlook for the upcoming season, propping up the likes of wide receiver DJ Moore and running back Khalil Herbert as major reasons for why the Bears will find success in 2023.
dearest chicago pic.twitter.com/TxYyL7tAHw
— Kay Adams (@heykayadams) August 15, 2023
Some naysayers scoffed at Fields’ two-touchdown stat line following Saturday’s game, pointing out that Moore and Herbert were the reason the Bears scored on those two plays, not Fields. Adams flipped that argument to her benefit, explaining that elite skill players getting the ball and making big plays is the Bears’ key to success. She even referenced a team that no one thought would be mentioned in the same sentence as the Bears: the Kansas City Chiefs.
“You need guys who can turn the completions into big plays, and if you want evidence as to why that matters… the Kansas City Chiefs were number one in YAC (yards after catch) last season… that’s how they won the Super Bowl,” Adams said, “with the YAC… don’t you understand? That’s a good thing.”
Despite Adam’s praise of the Bears, the analyst has a rocky relationship with Chicago’s faithful. The root of the conflict comes from her claim that she is a fan, but often times dons the memorabilia of other teams, even NFC North rivals.
Regardless of the fanbase’s feelings toward Adams, her argument for the Bears does hold weight. Players like Moore, Herbert, and others do make the offense much more dynamic, easing the expectation that Fields has to bring that element of his game week in and week out.
That freedom may allow him to create big chunk plays through the air rather than on the ground. If all of those hopes coalesce, the Bears could be right in the thick of the NFC playoff race in the last leg of the season.
