DJ Moore Makes It Clear He Wants More Targets: ‘Do I Want Mine? Of Course’
After last Sunday’s loss to the Detroit Lions, everybody in the Chicago Bears locker room had good reason to be disappointed, and that includes wide receiver DJ Moore. Not only was Moore, like the rest of his 52 teammates and every single member of the coaching staff, on the wrong end of a 31-point tail-whooping, but in the loss, Moore posted his eighth straight game with under 100 receiving yards, the longest such stretch in his time with the Bears.
At this point, DJ Moore’s frustration in Chicago has been well-documented and is a matter of public record. Moore was vocal about not wanting the Bears to move on from Justin Fields prior to the 2024 NFL Draft, which to be fair, was understandable considering the Bears closed the 2023 season on a high note and Moore was coming off of the best statistical season of his career.
He infamously walked off the field mid-play last season, though that was a story that was slightly overblown, especially considering numerous Bears seemed to check out from the 2024 season early anyways. And now as the Bears find themselves in an early 0-2 hole, the frustrations are starting to boil over again, this time related to Moore’s role within the offense.
“Do I want mine? Of course. Everybody wants their 100-yard game,” Moore said earlier in the week, per Gene Chamberlain of Sports Illustrated. But here is where Moore’s comment does take a turn. This wasn’t the prototypical
“At the same time, whoever’s going off, we’ve just gotta feed off their energy. When your number gets called, you’ve just gotta do it. His (Rome Odunze’s) number was called a lot and he made the plays when it was there,” Moore continued. Rome Odunze
Odunze set career highs with 7 receptions, 128 yards and 2 touchdowns in Week 2, and through two weeks of the season, the second-year wideout is on pace — assuming he plays all 17 games — to have the second-most receptions (110) and third-most receiving yards (1,402) in a single season in Bears history.
“Just reflecting on this last game that he had, over 120 (yards)? Just gotta keep building on top of that,” Moore added. “This is Year 2 for him and he’s already started off like that. Only can start from there and go up.”
It’s a welcome sign that Rome Odunze is coming into his own. Assuming he can keep up this pace, he will be well-worth the 9th overall pick that the Bears used on him in the 2024 NFL Draft. But too much Odunze and not enough DJ Moore is a problem. For the Bears to be at their best, they need to maximize what Moore can bring to the table.
How Can The Bears Get More Out Of DJ Moore?
Well, to answer that question, a good place to start would be this week at Soldier Field, when the Dallas Cowboys come to town just one week after allowing 450 yards and three touchdowns through the air to Russell Wilson and the New York Giants. That’s right… 36-year-old Russ had the fourth-most passing yards in a single game in New York Giants history last week, and both Malik Nabers (167 receiving yards) and Wan’Dale Robinson (142 yards) were both eating.
There’s no reason why both DJ Moore and Rome Odunze shouldn’t eat plenty on Sunday in Matt Eberflus’ return to Chicago. It’s been lost in the shuffle of an 0-2 start, but the Bears offense
DJ Moore needs to be involved early and often, and that doesn’t mean as a running back, even though D’Andre Swift may not be able to go against Dallas. Even if Rome Odunze has overtaken the WR1 role in the Bears offense — and even if DJ Moore is willing to help Odunze solidify himself as such — Moore is too talented to become an afterthought.
Raiders’ ‘Biggest Problem’ Should Be Major Cause for Concern
When the Las Vegas Raiders traded for Geno Smith, there was a lot of excitement from the fan base. While he’s not widely considered one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, he was supposed to be a massive upgrade over Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell.
Through two games, Smith has left a lot to be desired. He is tied for the NFL lead with four interceptions and only has one touchdown pass. The Raiders’ offensive line hasn’t been good, and the young wide receiver corps clearly needs work, but he simply has to be better.
Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report went through and listed the biggest problem for each NFL team and listed Smith as the Raiders’ biggest issue.
“Just as the defense suddenly becomes an asset, the Raiders get a slap in the face from their under-performing bridge quarterback. Through two weeks, Geno Smith is the league’s lowest-rated qualified passer thanks to a league-worst on-target rate (34.2 percent) and a 52.2 rating (with three interceptions) on deep attempts,” Gagnon wrote. “The line and running game haven’t offered him much support, but Smith is getting paid big bucks to lead this offense and he simply hasn’t delivered thus far.
“Outlook: Considering how much pressure he’s faced in that one-dimensional offense, it’s hard to envision the 34-year-old climbing out of this quickly.”
Smith Not Looking to Make Excuses
If a team’s biggest problem is their quarterback, they aren’t going to win many games. However, there’s a growing trend with Smith: He turns the ball over a lot.
Going back to the start of last season, he leads the NFL with 19 interceptions. One of the most important jobs for a quarterback is to protect the football, and Smith hasn’t done that.
Smith knows he has to be better and is taking accountability.
“Those are things that I got to learn from and be better at. Anything that doesn’t look right out there, you put that on my feet, you know, put that on my shoulders. I feel like I got to be a lot better for our guys. I know I have to, and I will be,” Smith said on Wednesday. “I’m never going to make any excuses about anything. I’ve got to be better. We got to be better, and we got a short week to improve on that.”
Smith Has to Improve Quickly
The Raiders’ defense has been playing surprisingly well so far, but the team can’t expect that to continue every week. The group simply doesn’t have enough depth.
If the Raiders are going to have success this season, the offense has to be very good. That hasn’t been the case in two games. With the run game being essentially non-existent, there’s a lot of Smith’s shoulders. That’s why the team is paying him nearly $40 million a year.
The Raiders weren’t expected to be a playoff team this season, so being 1-1 isn’t a surprise, but they were hoping they had an answer at quarterback for at least a couple of seasons. If he throws another 15+ intercpetions for a second season in a row, it might be back to the drawing board for Las Vegas.
