The Chicago Bears were right there. They could taste it. They’d stopped the Los Angeles Rams on the first drive of overtime. Caleb Williams drove them to midfield. All they needed was a field goal to win the game. Then came the backbreaker. Williams lofted a pass down the field that was intercepted by safety Kamren Kurl. Initial reactions were that Chicago got greedy, taking a shot when they didn’t have to. They had time. However, replays soon revealed some far more troubling. It centered on DJ Moore.
When viewing the throw from behind Williams, it shows him throwing the ball as if Moore is route a sharp crossing route. Replays show the wide receiver isn’t even going at full speed, which allowed Kurl to easily undercut the pass for the interception.
It isn’t clear what happened. Maybe Moore was hurt, but he does have a track record for occasionally loafing on plays. The fact that he might’ve chosen that moment in that game to do such a thing is beyond egregious. It cost the Bears their season.
DJ Moore has had the most confounding year in recent memory.
On the one hand, he’s responsible for two of the most memorable catches in Bears history, knocking off the Green Bay Packers each of the past two meetings. Conversely, he’s also had some ugly moments where he seems to downshift on throws when he should’ve been staying at full speed. This time it led to catastrophic results. Now, Williams deserves some blame as well. He probably shouldn’t even have attempted that throw. There was room to run. Still, it’s hard not to think he was hung out to dry on that play.
All this does is cloud the future for DJ Moore. Chicago is pressed against the salary cap next year and will have some tough contract decisions to make. Trading Moore is one option they should consider. Doing so would free up $16 million in space. His performances over the last few weeks gave people pause. Maybe they should find a way to keep him. That play just makes the decision more complicated. It will be interesting to see how Ben Johnson and Ryan Poles view it after they’ve had a few weeks to sit on it.
