Bears Offensive Blueprint on Full Display in Win Over Patriots

The Chicago Bears' offense is tough to defend when a defense doesn't know who is getting the ball. 

In the Bears' 30-24 win over the New England Patriots on Thursday Night Football, head coach Ben Johnson's top three pass catchers all impacted the game throughout different points in the night. 

Wide receiver Luther Burden III caught four passes for 130 yards and a touchdown all in the first half. His four receptions were all explosive gains (20+ yards or more). His 24-yard touchdown reception occurred on a third-and-17 screen pass. 

“Man, I’ll tell you, it's great execution across the board," Johnson said. "I think you've got to highlight (WR) Kalif Raymond on the outside. We knew with that particular play that those corners were going to be a factor. They like to knife those things and blow them up. That was all over the tape. Kalif did a great job getting that play started. Same with Colston and then of course our O-line leading the charge there. All it took was Luther to find a little slither and he was able to gas it right on through there. So, a huge play for us and we certainly needed those seven points.”

Tight end Colston Loveland added another 69 yards and a touchdown on seven receptions, with 58 of his receiving yards, including the 12-yard touchdown reception coming in the second half. 

Wide receiver Rome Odunze caught four passes for another 69 yards. On the Bears' final scoring drive of  the game, the third-year receiver caught two passes for 42 yards, including a 21-yard gain on third-and-9 from Chicago's 10-yard line. Those plays helped the Bears move down the field for Cairo Santos to kick a 58-yard field goal to put his team up by nine points with 1:34 left in the game. 

Quarterback Caleb Williams finished the game with 308 passing yards and two touchdowns, with his top three pass catchers accounting for 87% of the team's receiving yards. 

As Johnson talked about Burden being unlocked in his offense during Friday's virtual press conference, he brought up the ball distribution in Thursday's win. 

"But he [Burden] did a great job sparking us yesterday and early on in that game," Johnson said. "Certainly in the first half he was the story. I thought Colston came on in the second half and helped us power through that third quarter. Then to see Rome finish it out for us. That's kind of the vision. You don't know who's going to have the hot hand and where that ball's going to go. But we've got a number of pass catchers that can be dynamic playmakers when given opportunities.”

Odunze, Loveland and Burden are the team's top pass catchers and the future of this Bears offense. Getting all three involved consistently needs to be the blueprint for Chicago the rest of the season.

Of course, target share will shift from week to week depending on the matchup, but each possesses the talent to change a game. Moving forward, opposing defenses will have their hands full trying to account for all three every time they face the Bears' offense.