During the opening week of the NFL season, it looked like the Chicago Bears might have the top offense in the entire NFL as the team put up 59 points in a 59-37 win over the Carolina Panthers. Just a week later, the Bears looked like one of the worst offenses in the league.
During Sunday afternoon’s game against the Minnesota Vikings, the Bears managed just three points in a 9-3 loss at home, marking a drastic and nearly historic dip in scoring between week 1 and week 2.
Second biggest scoring dip ever
It was certainly a jarring juxtaposition between the scoring totals between week 1 and week 2. In fact, it was nearly historic.
According to NBC Sports research, the Bears’ going from 59 points in the first game to 3 points in their second game marked the second-biggest scoring dip between week 1 and week 2 in NFL history.
The only bigger dip came in 1973, when the Atlanta Falcons scored 62 points in week 1 before getting shut out in week 2.
“In 1973, the Falcons opened the season with a 62-7 win over the Saints. The following week, they lost to the Rams, 31-0,” wrote Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “That year, Falcons quarterback Dick Shiner went from completing 13 of 15 passes for 227 yards and three touchdowns to completing two of nine for 17 yards and an interception.”
While the injury to Caleb Williams might have played a role at the end of the game, the reality is that he was on the field and healthy for the majority of the game, and the team still only managed three points, which is certainly concerning.
‘When the public takes the bait…’
Needless to say, this wild stat led to a lot of reactions from the NFL community.
“The 56-point swing is wild. Even stranger: Chicago outgained Minnesota 297-246 yards, ran 70 plays to 51 and had 17 first downs to 11. They also reached the Vikings’ 1, 5 and 12-yard lines on three possessions. Points from those drives: 0,” wrote Bears Insight in a post on X.
“59 to 3 in a week is the single best argument against ever pricing a team off last Sunday. One result tells you almost nothing about the next one,” wrote Betting Stats in a post.
“We’re gonna break records blah blah blah,” a fan added.
“Well, when the betting public takes the bait…. Vegas pulls the rug!” someone else joked.
“Guess the Bears are just testing the ‘less is more’ theory on offense this week,” another fan added.
We’ll have to see how the Bears respond next week.
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