Mooney on Bears offense: “Still trying to figure out what works for us” |
CHICAGO - Things are not quite going how fans anticipated at the beginning of this season going. Losing to the Green Bay Packers is always gut-wrenching. Losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the game right after that is also distressing. Now, the Bears will be facing the Kansas City Chiefs (3:25 p.m./FOX) - the reigning championships.
Probably one of the more disappointing things about the Week 2 loss to the Buccaneers was the fact that on the first drive of the game, receiver DJ Moore had two catches for 64 yards, and the drive ended with a one-yard Justin Fields rushing touchdown. On the following drive, the Chicago special teams blocked the Buccaneer’s 40-yard field goal, giving Fields and the offense the ball at midfield. However, they failed to score any points on that drive or recover the muffed punt. “We have to take advantage of that (field position),” wide receiver Darnell Mooney said. “That’s when you put up points, and that’s when you (give) the defense a break of just catching their breath, and once we get some points on the board, that gives us, gives the defense a better chance of just doing what they have to do.” After having four receptions for 53 yards and a touchdown in the season opener, Mooney failed to have a single reception in the loss against the Buccaneers. He also had to exit early because of a knee injury but affirmed to the media that he will play against Kansas City. Overall through the first two games, the offense has been inconsistent at best. After Moore’s 64 receiving yards on the first drive, he finished the game against Tampa Bay with 104 total yards. While that is refreshing for a Bears wide receiver to have a 100-yard game (Mooney has not had such a game since Week 17 of the 2021 season), it is still a little low for how he started the game. “We’re kind of still trying to figure out what works for us,” Mooney stated. “I mean, it’s not too soon, not too late or whatever, to figure those things out. Obviously, we don’t want to be 0-2.” This game will be just the second time in the Mahomes era that the Bears have faced off against the Chiefs. In the first matchup in 2019, Kansas City beat Chicago in a 26-3 rout. The only mistake the Chiefs really made in that game was missing an extra point, which, ironically enough, kicker Harrison Butker double-doinked. Back in 2015 was the last time that the Bears won against the Chiefs. Back at that time, John Fox was the head coach in Chicago, Robbie Gould was still the kicker, Jay Cutler was the quarterback, and Matt Forte was in his final season as the Bears’ running back. For the Chiefs, Alex Smith was still the quarterback. Clearly, a lot has changed since that matchup. It may be only the third week of the season, but it seems like this game could be a must-win for Chicago to try to save their season. In the division, they are only one game off the lead. However, things can always change quickly in the NFL, and the Bears need to figure things out quite quickly if they want to stay in contention for the playoffs and potentially the division.
