{"id":135598,"date":"2022-09-24T18:03:06","date_gmt":"2022-09-24T22:03:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=135598"},"modified":"2022-11-21T12:52:43","modified_gmt":"2022-11-21T17:52:43","slug":"chicago-bears-justin-fields-major-issues-darnell-mooney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2022\/09\/24\/chicago-bears-justin-fields-major-issues-darnell-mooney\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Bears Could Have &#8216;Major Issues&#8217; With Star Wideout"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Chicago Bears\u2019 inability to generate offense is leading to premature questions about players such as <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2022\/08\/18\/bears-watch-justin-fields-teven-jenkins-roquan-smith\/\" target=\"_self\">Darnell Mooney<\/a>. Through two regular season games, the Bears have just 28 passing attempts. For context, 32 other quarterbacks have thrown more passes than <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2022\/09\/19\/bears-justin-fields-honest-controversial-4th-down\/\" target=\"_self\">Justin Fields<\/a>. 29 other passers have completed more passes than he has attempted.<\/p>\n<p>Jimmy Garoppolo has already thrown 21 passes for the San Francisco 49ers. He did not throw a pass until the end of the first quarter in Week 2.<\/p>\n<p>Volume aside, Mooney has still made up just 17% of Fields\u2019 targets.<\/p>\n<h2>Darnell Mooney\u2019s Lack of Production a Potentially \u2018Major\u2019 Issue for Bears<\/h2>\n<h3>Stars Aligned for Mooney<\/h3>\n<p>Through Week 2 and with the Bears sitting at 1-1, Mooney has not only been missing from the offense. He has seemingly been an afterthought in the gameplan with his minuscule share of the targets \u2013 two catches for four yards on five targets \u2013 among a thin set of weapons at Fields\u2019 disposal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo put that in perspective,\u201d writes <a href=\"https:\/\/bleacherreport.com\/articles\/10049889-the-nfls-5-biggest-disappointments-early-in-2022-season\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bleacher Report<\/a>\u2019s Alex Kay, \u201cat this point last year, Mooney already had 11 catches for 92 yards on 15 targets. He never had a single game in 2021 with fewer yards than he&#8217;s tallied over the first two weeks of this season.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Bears QB Justin Fields on OC Luke Getsy: \u201cWe put full trust in him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Message today from him is that they\u2019re not focusing on individual stats, whether it\u2019s his 11 pass attempts or Darnell Mooney\u2019s one catch.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re all trying to win games.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Adam Jahns (@adamjahns) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/adamjahns\/status\/1572642585348567040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 21, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Mooney said that he wants to prove his value as a top wideout this season.<\/p>\n<p>But he is also very much a team-first player whose main concern is getting the win over individual stats.<\/p>\n<p>The Bears were headed for a split from last year\u2019s top option, Allen Robinson, regardless of what happened with Mooney. But Mooney\u2019s strong finish to last season seemed to portend a big leap in Year 3, explains Kay.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFields had his first full offseason preparing as the team&#8217;s starter and got in plenty of work with Mooney during training camp, Robinson had departed in free agency, and no high-end replacement pass-catchers were brought in to take targets away from the up-and-coming receiver.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mooney finished last season with his first 1000-yard campaign catching 81 passes and four touchdowns in the process.<\/p>\n<p>He worked as the top option all summer but it is not as if he is the only one not producing.<\/p>\n<h3>Aggravating Mitigating Factors<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cThe team is averaging the fewest yards in the league overall at 216 per game, with its 76.5 passing yards per game largely responsible for this. That average isn&#8217;t even half of what the No. 31st-ranked squad has been generating through the air.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kay goes on to explain the weather has played a part in the Bears\u2019 lack of passing. Fields has also been sacked five times and taken off to run 19 times in two games with some of those coming on scrambles. That would almost certainly boost the team\u2019s passing numbers overall and, presumably, Mooney\u2019s production right along with it.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">According to Next Gen Stats, the average separation on Justin Fields&#39; targets is 3.93 yards, fourth-best in the NFL.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Moody (@EricNMoody) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/EricNMoody\/status\/1572616684820733953?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 21, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Fields has also been inaccurate ranking <a href=\"http:\/\/pfref.com\/pi\/share\/mZ4T1\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">third in bad pass percentage<\/a> behind Dak Prescott and Trae Lance whose injury last week paved the way for Garoppolo.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, Fields has been pressured at the <a href=\"http:\/\/pfref.com\/pi\/share\/D6loc\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">seventh-highest rate<\/a> this season. This is despite the Bears boasting the league\u2019s best <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/34536376\/2022-nfl-pass-rushing-run-stopping-blocking-leaderboard-win-rate-rankings-top-players-teams#pbwrteam\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pass Block Win Rate<\/a> to this point in the season, per ESPN.<\/p>\n<h3>Potential Week 3 Breakout<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cMooney will get a chance to bounce back against the Houston Texans in Week 3. If he can&#8217;t get it going against a defense that has given up 270.5 yards per game through the air this year, the Bears will have some major issues to sort out.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The Houston Texans have given up the 2nd-most yards so far in 2022; 3rd-most on the ground and 7th-most through the air.<\/p>\n<p>If there was ever a get-right game for Justin Fields, Cole Kmet, Darnell Mooney, and the Bears, at home in good weather against the Texans would be it.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Dave Kluge (@DaveKluge) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DaveKluge\/status\/1572394673154699264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 21, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Everyone from Fields to his coaches is acutely aware of the struggles.<\/p>\n<p>But it\u2019s not just that a weaker opponent is on the schedule after facing two teams ranked in ESPN\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/34420327\/nfl-power-rankings-2022-preseason-1-32-poll-hot-seat-watch-coaches-players\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">preseason top-10<\/a> to open the season.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s that everyone is acutely aware of the offense\u2019s struggles. Despite an <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2022\/08\/03\/chicago-bears-david-montgomery-sends-strong-message-versatile-rbs\/\" target=\"_self\">effective running game<\/a>, this offense will be tough to watch until they can find a rhythm between Fields and his pass-catchers.<\/p>\n<p>There are many <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nPzrKYwFTKM\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">theories on how<\/a> they can go about that. But it has to happen.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo:<br \/>\n<a id=\"LETms_yBQzJ3QWwgh_UXUA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1415852971\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'LETms_yBQzJ3QWwgh_UXUA',sig:'LF7s_erikp8RCr1CtRaO492VW-G2leI9VAKzrf8d1xQ=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1415852971',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Chicago Bears\u2019 inability to generate offense is leading to premature questions about players such as Darnell Mooney. Through two regular season games, the Bears have just 28 passing attempts. For context, 32 other quarterbacks have thrown more passes than Justin Fields. 29 other passers have completed more passes than he has attempted. Jimmy Garoppolo [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2879,"featured_media":135600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[54,23],"tags":[7657,7544,6605,6990],"class_list":["post-135598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorials","category-bears","tag-bears-featured","tag-chicago-bears-roster","tag-darnell-mooney","tag-justin-fields"],"modified_by":"Josh Buckhalter","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2879"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135598\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}