Chicago Bears Stat of the Day: Receiving Touchdowns

People can talk about yards and completions all they like, but for the Chicago Bears to win in the NFL their receivers need to score touchdowns.

Period. The fact of the matter is they didn’t do nearly enough of that in 2016. Their two leaders by the end of the year were Zach Miller and Cameron Meredith, tied for four scores apiece. Keep in mind Miller missed a good chunk of the season with injury. It certainly doesn’t reflect well on a receiving corp that it took two of their players to equal the same number of touchdowns that seven other receivers in the league had all by themselves.

There were a variety of factors in play for why the team struggled so much at this. One was the constant turnover at quarterback. John Fox himself said that three different QBs started games for the Bears in 2016. That is no way to win in the NFL. More than anything it impacted the chemistry and timing with the receivers. That is absolutely crucial to execution for big play TDs and red zone TDs.

Then of course there was the problem with drops.

There were a number of red zone plays and plays that could’ve gone the distance that were just flat out dropped by receiver. Never was it more egregious than in the game against Tennessee last year. John Bellamy and Deonte Thompson dropped passes on back-to-back plays that would’ve resulted in a game-tying touchdown. It was a crushing sequence that helps explain why the team invested in free agent receivers Victor Cruz, Kendall Wright and Markus Wheaton.

They want greater depth and more proven ability at the position. Sure Alshon Jeffery is gone but he was never a big end zone threat anyway. He only scored two touchdowns in 12 games last year. If the Bears want any hope of challenging the rest of the NFC North, they have to do better this year. Otherwise it’s just more of the same.