After spending the better part of two offseasons pining for the Chicago Bears to get Justin Fields a legitimate No. 1 receiver to throw to, GM Ryan Poles made it happen by trading for D.J. Moore. And while we know the Fields-Moore connection was looking good in the early going, that dynamic duo took it to another level in primetime.
Last night’s effort was the kind of performance we were dreaming of when the Bears drafted Fields in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. And that was the type of game we thought he could have when (if?) Chicago’s front office gave him a premier wide receiver target. Put ’em to gather and we were witness to the kind of night Bears fans could only dream about in their deepest slumber.
More from Moore and Fields’ big day …
DJ Moore is the truth
- DJ Moore was doing all sorts of damage and the folks at NextGenStats were having a field day:
- I’ve been banging the drum for the Bears to use Moore over the middle at a higher rate. However, kudos to the Bears for recognizing the mismatches Moore had outside and steadily feeding him the ball on the outside. Sometimes, you’ve just gotta keep play the hits until someone tells you to stop. The Commanders did nothing to slow down or stop it. And DJ made them pay.
- SIU MATH (as coined by fellow Saluki Marc Silverman): After the first quarter, DJ Moore was on pace to snag 16 catches, go for 504 receiving yards, and score four touchdowns โ ON THURSDAY NIGHT ALONE.
- Moore was doing things on Thursday that no Bears player had done since Sweetness was lacing ’em up:
- Cole Kmet, as last year’s Bears leading receiver: 50 catches, 544 receiving yards, 7 touchdowns. D.J. Moore, after 5 games in 2023 with the Bears: 27 catches, 531 receiving yards, 5 touchdowns. Those numbers should put some things in perspective for Bears fans.
- This says a lot about the history of the Chicago Bears and their wide receivers. But it also says something about Moore, who can quickly find himself atop the franchise’s leaderboard among pass catchers:
- D.J. Moore’s 17-game pace: 92 catches (116 targets), 1,805 yards, 17 touchdowns. Moore’s pace (but if you take out the first game when Luke Getsy’s scheme seemed to forget Moore existed): 106 catches (136 targets), 2,150 yards, 21 touchdowns.
Justin Fields went off, too
- This is a very specific stat with precise qualifications. Nevertheless, it is cool to see Justin Fields connected:
- Justin Fields’ numbers on Thursday Night Football (2 starts): 29/56 (51.8%), 472 passing yards, 5 TD, 1 INT, 102.7 passer rating. On the ground, he has added 23 carries for 145 rushing yards. Extrapolating those stats over a full 17-game season looks like this: 246/476, 4,012 passing yards, 42 passing touchdowns, 17 interceptions, and a 102.7 passer rating. Tack on 195 carries and 1,232 rushing yards to those passing totals. Add it all together and that’s a spicy meatball.
- Another mind-blowing factoid, via ESPN’s SportsCenter account:
- Justin Fields’ stats when targeting D.J. Moore: 27/34 (79.4%), 531 passing yards, 5 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, 158.3 quarterback rating. Fields is literally perfect when throwing to Moore.
- Applying some more Saluki Math, this is what Fields’ numbers would look like over a 17-game projection if all he did was throw passes to Moore: 91/115, 1,805 pass yards, 17 touchdowns, 0 interceptions.
- One of my friends suggested I compare and contrast Justin Fields’ first 30 starts with the first 30 of other notable Bears quarterbacks. As I started digging into figuring out what should go into that post, I stumbled upon this factoid: After having just one game with at least three touchdown passes in his first 30 starts, Fields puts together two games with 4 passing touchdowns in the span of four days.
- NBA superstar LeBron James was loving the 1-2 punch. Game recognize game:
- It’s all love, Justin: