DJ Moore’s historic night a boon to Bears, Justin Fields
DJ Moore celebrates a touchdown Thursday.
Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images
DJ Moore missed the greatest receiving game in franchise history by a less than a foot.
Maybe a heel.
With the ball at their own 37 with about a minute left in the third quarter of Thursday night’s 40-20 win at the Commanders, Bears quarterback Justin Fields threw a quick out along the right sideline to Moore. Rookie cornerback Emmanuel Forbes reached for the pass with his right arm extended and his back to the quarterback, but missed the ball.
Moore caught it and spun upfield, where he ran untouched up the sideline until safety Darrick Forrest dove at his feet at the Commanders’ 38. Moore skipped over him and kept running toward the end zone, but he heard a whistle.
Officials ruled he stepped out at the 31, claiming the left heel of his orange and white Nikes touched white chalk. The Bears eventually settled for a 43-yard Cairo Santos field goal.
“That really pissed me off, because I was about to score,” Moore said Thursday night. “I could’ve had four touchdowns.”
He had to settle for three touchdowns instead. In doing so, he became the running mate the Bears have long needed for Fields.
“I think (officials) should have just let it play out, and then of course review it and then overturn it,” Fields said. “They usually do that. I’m surprised they didn’t. … He didn’t think he stepped out.”
Neither did the Bears sideline, which was inches away from the call.
“It looked pretty clean to me,” linebacker T.J. Edwards said. “If they called it they called it. He got it back for sure.”
He finished with 230 yards on eight catches. His last one was the most dramatic. On third-and-2 in a 10-point game with 4:18 to play, he snatched a high hitch route throw from Fields — for a split-second it looked like Kendall Fuller had a chance to intercept the pass and return it for a touchdown — and sprinted up the field for a 56-yard touchdown.
It sealed the victory and ended the Bears’ 14-game losing streak.
“A sigh of relief,” Fields said.
“Dagger,” said safety Jaquan Brisker.
Even with officials claiming his heel grazed the sideline, Moore posted the second-best showing by any wide receiver in the 103 years of the franchise. His 230 yards rank second to Alshon Jeffrey’s team record of 249, set Dec. 1, 2013, in Minneapolis. His three touchdown receptions tied a Bears record, shared by nine others, since the AFL-NFL merger.
Bears history isn’t synonymous with the forward pass, of course, but Moore has just totaled one of the best two-game stretches in the history of the sport — five days apart. In his last two games, he’s caught four touchdowns and totaled 361 yards on 16 catches. Since the merger, only six other receivers have totaled at least four scores, 16 receptions and 361 yards over any two-game span: the Chiefs’ Tyreek Hill, the Cowboys’ Miles Austin, the Bengals’ Chad Johnson, the Titans’ Drew Bennett, the Rams’ Isaac Bruce and the Chargers’ Wes Chandler.
On the sideline, teammates kept trying to tell Moore how many receiving yards he had in the game. He shooed them away, not wanting to know until he went to the locker room.
“They left him one-on-one for more times than I thought they would …” Fields said. “So, when you always have him one-on-one, he’s going to win 95% of the time. Just thankful for him to be honest, he makes my job way easier.”
That was the plan when the Bears traded the No. 1 overall pick to the Panthers for a package that included Moore. Overnight, he became the best receiver with whom Fields has ever been paired as a pro.
Moore filled a need that general manager Ryan Poles identified upon arrival two years ago. Weeks after taking the job, the Bears commissioned a study to examine what helped a quarterback grow in Year 2. Their conclusion, Poles said in 2022: a quarterback needs a receiver “they can go to that they trust.”
Thursday night, Fields trusted Moore. He threw 10 times on third down, completing five passes. Four of them were to Moore, totaling 145 yards and three touchdowns. Fields completed just three passes in the second half, and all three were to Moore.
If Fields is going to become the passer the Bears need him to be, he’ll need to lean on Moore.
“My biggest thing to (offensive coordinator) Luke (Getsy) is. anytime we can give him the ball, get him the ball,” Fields said. “Because one, he’s a great receiver, we all know that ... Two is to just put the football in his hands ... he’s able to make guys miss. …
“Any time you can get him the ball, it’s always going to be good for us.”
The first three weeks, Moore caught 20% of Fields’ completions. The last two weeks, he’s up to 37%.
“He’s just getting warmed up,” Brisker said. “They found their identity, and it’s going to get scary.”