When the Chicago Bears fired offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, an odd stat came to mind. The 2023 Bears finished 18th in points scored and 20th in yards gained — nothing to pop champagne over.
But, in a sign of what Chicago has gone through, it was the first time it finished in the top 20 in both categories in the same season since 2013.
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The 2023 Bears were also 12th on third down and eighth in goal-to-go situations, the team’s best marks since 2018.
None of that was good enough. The Bears offense was second in rushing yards per game but 20th in passing yards and 24th in yards per play. Quarterback Justin Fields was sacked too often. The Bears turned it over 25 times, 11th-most in the league.
Earlier this week, we took a closer look at Fields’ stat line for the 2023 season. This is a look at the offense, position-by-position, starting with snap counts and then some fun facts.
Quarterbacks
| Player | Playing time % |
|---|---|
72.8 | |
26.8 | |
0.4 |
Justin Fields deserved his own story to take a closer look at all his statistics, but two questions came up in the comments to address.
• Fumbles. Fields had 10 fumbles overall in 2023, which tied for eighth most in the league. In the fourth quarter, he led the league with seven fumbles, losing three of them. His 26 fumbles since the start of 2022 are the most in the NFL, two ahead of Trevor Lawrence.
• Third-down scrambles. Fields led quarterbacks with 294 rushing yards on third down. He had 20 first downs and a first-down rushing rate of 64.5 percent, which was third-best among QBs.
One of the big statistical differences between Fields and rookie backup Tyson Bagent was the “time to throw” stat. Fields led the NFL with 3.13 seconds, 0.14 seconds ahead of anyone else. That also is the third-longest “time to throw” among all quarterbacks with at least 300 pass attempts since 2000 behind Russell Wilson’s 2012 season and Michael Vick in 2006.
Bagent’s time to throw was clocked at 2.74 seconds, which was 17th in the NFL. In his best game, against the Raiders, Bagent got rid of it in 2.68 seconds, which is what Brock Purdy and Kirk Cousins averaged for the season.
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Fields’ time-to-throw stat is a Rorschach test, like many things Fields. He holds on to the ball too long sometimes. He also has a rare ability to scramble, which can create big plays down the field, something that improved this season. Bagent, who can’t elude tacklers the way Fields does, needs to be a quick decision-maker.
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Bagent’s 143 pass attempts were the 10th most by a rookie, undrafted quarterback since 2000. His completion rate of 65.7 percent was the second highest (minimum two starts) behind Cincinnati’s Jake Browning.
Running backs
| Player | Playing time % |
|---|---|
34.7 | |
31.4 | |
23.6 | |
16.3 | |
7.7 | |
0.5 |
For the second season in a row, Fields led the Bears in rushing with 657 yards to Khalil Herbert’s 611. Before Herbert’s strong finish with back-to-back 100-yard games, the Bears were at risk of going without a 600-yard running back for the first time since 1992. Herbert’s 611 rushing yards are the fewest for a Bears leading back since Edgar Bennett had 611 in 1998.
In his first four games after suffering an ankle injury against the Commanders, Herbert had only 75 yards on 31 carries (2.4 yards per carry). He exploded against the Cardinals and Falcons with 38 carries for 236 yards (6.2-yard average). But Herbert was ineffective against the Packers, like the rest of the offense, with only 28 yards on 12 carries. It was his second-worst rushing EPA (expected points added) of the season — his first was the season opener against Green Bay.
Roschon Johnson was a little more consistent throughout the season but never got more than 10 carries in a game and never reached 40 rushing yards. He did finish averaging 4.3 yards per carry. He had a slightly better “rush success percentage” than Herbert (38.3 to 35.6). But the Bears could look to add more explosiveness to the backfield this offseason.
Here’s the workshare between Herbert and Johnson this season:
As for D’Onta Foreman, he had the best rush success percentage (41.3) but was also a healthy scratch to end the season. Foreman was at his best in wins over the Raiders and Panthers and a loss to the Vikings.
Wide receivers
| Player | Playing time % |
|---|---|
90.4 | |
67.3 | |
38.6 | |
18.7 | |
10.8 | |
8.8 | |
3.5 |
How good was DJ Moore? He set career highs in receptions (96) and yards (1,364) in his first season as a Bear and had his best catch percentage (70.6). His 2023 season ranks eighth in Bears history for catches and fourth for receiving yards.
Moore was also one of the best receivers in football on the most critical down, often being more than just a safety outlet for Fields.
| Stat | Total | Rank |
|---|---|---|
Rec | 33 | 2nd |
Yards | 531 | 4th |
TD | 5 | t-2nd |
1st downs | 28 | 3rd |
The Bears were 4-0 when Moore had 10 or more targets. When he had six or fewer, the Bears were 1-5, and the one win was against Arizona when he was limited with an ankle injury.
DJ Moore went all out for the first down ‼️
📺: #CHIvsDET on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/jckqnJwdb2 pic.twitter.com/2F1H4d2cvj— NFL (@NFL) November 19, 2023
Darnell Mooney had 414 receiving yards, 950 fewer than Moore. To put that gap in perspective, no Bear had more than 900 receiving yards from 2015 to 2017.
That drop-off will be a talking point this offseason as the Bears look to add receivers to complement Moore. Tyler Scott had only 168 yards receiving, which ranked 24th among rookie wideouts.
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Tight ends
| Player | Playing time % |
|---|---|
77.2 | |
29.2 | |
28.4 |
Cole Kmet hit a career-high with 719 receiving yards. What really stood out, though, was his catch percentage — 81.1, a career-best by nearly 9 percent, and second best in the NFL behind Durham Smythe’s 81.4 percent, and Smythe, the Dolphins’ tight end, had 47 fewer targets.
Kmet had 36 first downs, also the best in his four NFL seasons, and that ranked eighth among tight ends.
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The 719 yards ranked eighth all time for a Bears tight end. Mike Ditka has the first-, third-, fourth- and sixth-best seasons for a Bears tight end. Kmet’s 2,118 career receiving yards rank fourth in Bears history. He should pass Desmond Clark and Emery Moorehead in 2024.
It was a little surprising to see Marcedes Lewis was second among tight ends in playing time, edging out Robert Tonyan. It speaks to Lewis’ incredible durability and longevity, that he is still an effective run blocker. Tonyan’s season was a disappointment by receiving standards with only 11 catches, and his 2023 will be most remembered by the ball he didn’t catch. The Bears could certainly look to add another receiving threat at tight end.
Offensive line
| Player | Playing time % |
|---|---|
99.6 | |
84.2 | |
69.4 | |
64.7 | |
64.2 | |
58.5 | |
36.1 | |
15.5 | |
8.0 | |
0.2 |
For the second year in a row, the Bears had a rookie offensive tackle who started every game. Darnell Wright couldn’t hit 100 percent of his snaps like Braxton Jones did, but he missed only five, an outstanding feat.
In the three years of 17-game seasons, 20 rookie offensive linemen have started all 16 games. The Bears are one of four teams with two.
The snap counts illustrate an offensive line that couldn’t stay healthy. Wright is the only one who started every game. The Bears had nine O-line combinations in 17 games. Their best stretch of health came during Weeks 11-17, when they had the same starting five in five of six games, including four in a row, and they went 4-2 in that stretch.
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Last season, the Bears also had nine offensive line combinations with only two players appearing in every game. We saw Wright’s potential, growth from Jones, dominance at times from Tevin Jenkins, and got a glimpse at a Bears team that finally had a solid offensive line foundation to build off. Now we see what the plan is at center, and what this group could look like with better durability.
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(Photo of DJ Moore: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
