Bears fans probably shouldn’t pencil in another Kalif Raymond takeover anytime soon, and that’s exactly why the opener mattered.
If you had missed Chicago’s season opener and only heard the Bears hung 59 points, the natural guess would be that Colston Loveland or Rome Odunze had gone nuclear. Maybe Luther Burden III.
Maybe rookie Zavion Thomas. Anyone but Raymond, of all people, as the main passing-game problem.
That’s what made the performance so strange for Carolina, and so useful for Chicago. The Panthers clearly didn’t have Raymond circled as the player to stop, and he made them pay for it. But that tape is now out there, and Brian Flores will have a full game to study before the Vikings see him in Week 2.
That’s where Ben Johnson’s plan starts to take shape. Minnesota will account for Raymond and adjust, which may be exactly what Chicago wants. If the Vikings tilt their coverage toward the former Detroit Lion, they open the door for everyone else.
And that’s the real issue for a defense trying to get through this Bears offense. Burden, Odunze, Loveland and Thomas can all find themselves in one-on-one situations if attention shifts toward Raymond. That’s not a comfortable place to live for long.
There’s a clear logic to Johnson’s approach. The league has now seen what Raymond can do, but that doesn’t mean the Bears are suddenly predictable.
One week he can be the decoy or the blocker; another week he can rip off 100 yards and two touchdowns. That uncertainty is the point.
Chicago isn’t going to score 59 every Sunday, and Raymond probably won’t clear 50 receiving yards all that often, if at all, the rest of the way. But that doesn’t solve the bigger problem for opposing defenses: this Bears offense has the kind of depth that can still push past 40 points and maybe produce more huge outbursts.
It’s a loaded unit, a balanced one, and one that can also lean on the run with D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai if teams try to overplay the pass. That’s a bad combination for anyone trying to game-plan against them.
Of course, scoring is only part of the equation. If Chicago wants to be taken seriously as a real contender, it has to get stops too. But for now, defensive coordinators are left doing the same thing every week: guessing who the Bears are about to unleash.
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Now the Bears have a decision that feels larger than a typical depth-chart wrinkle. Thomas may not have gotten a return chance yet, but the staff clearly sees the same threat the preseason hinted at, and the next step is figuring out how to use him without forcing the issue. For a team always looking for hidden yardage and a spark on special teams, his role looks like one of the more interesting things to watch in the coming weeks. [Read more 🡒]