For once, the Bears benefitted from Mitch Trubisky’s poor play.
Trubisky, now with the Steelers, had only 190 passing yards and threw an interception as Pittsburgh lost to the Patriots 21-18 on Thursday night. The Patriots’ victory was huge for the Bears in their hope of securing the top pick in the 2024 draft.
The Patriots moved to 3-10 to match the Cardinals, creating a two-game cushion between them and the 1-11 Panthers with only five weeks left in the season. The Bears get the Panthers’ first-round pick as part of the trade in March in which the Bears sent them the 2023 No. 1 overall pick.
ESPN analytics upped the Bears’ chances of getting the top pick via the Panthers to 86% (from 76%) and their likelihood of picking in the top two to 94%. The Patriots are next with a 7% chance to get the No. 1 pick. The Bears’ own draft pick currently is slotted at No. 5 heading into their home game Sunday against the Lions.
“I’m focusing on Detroit and our team getting better . . . so I really don’t follow it that much,” coach Matt Eberflus said of draft positioning.
While the Bears are still trying to make the most they can out of this season — players talked openly about the playoffs this week despite being 4-8 — the Panthers are in free fall and seem highly unlikely to climb out of the basement.
They fired coach Frank Reich, replacing him in the interim with former Bears special-teams coordinator Chris Tabor, and rookie quarterback Bryce Young, whom they took with the No. 1 pick the Bears traded to them, has struggled all season. Every remaining Panthers opponent, starting Sunday with the Saints, is competing for a playoff spot.
There’s still a wide range of possibilities for the Bears’ own pick. The Commanders are ahead of them in the draft order at 4-9, and the Jets, Giants and Titans all sit 4-8 like the Bears. Four teams are 5-7, so a win this week could slide the Bears as far down in the draft as 12th.
Mooney missing
When Ryan Poles arrived as general manager last year, he immediately identified wide receiver Darnell Mooney as a core piece of the Bears’ future. Mooney was coming off a 1,000-yard season and looked like he was still ascending.
His production dipped to 493 yards and two touchdowns last season before getting hurt, however, and this season he has only 351 yards and a touchdown. His 29.3 yards and 2.1 catches per game are career lows, and he’s in the last season of his rookie contract.
If anything, it seemed like Mooney’s numbers would go up this season thanks to the attention DJ Moore draws.
“Mooney’s doing a lot of really good things,” offensive coordinator Luke Getsy said. “DJ’s getting a lot of the action, [tight end Cole Kmet is] getting a lot of the action, and then Mooney’s been sprinkled in there.”
It certainly doesn’t help that the Bears have thrown the sixth-fewest passes in the NFL.
Depleted receiver corps
After Moore and Mooney, the Bears have significant concerns at wide receiver with Equanimeous St. Brown (pectoral muscle) out and Tyler Scott (hamstring) and Velus Jones (illness) questionable.
The Bears pulled Scott off the practice field Friday when he had tightness in his hamstring. Jones was out of practice entirely, and Eberflus said it was too early to forecast if he’d be healthy enough to play against Detroit.
The only other receiver on the roster is Trent Taylor, who is predominantly a punt returner and has no catches this season. The Bears also could elevate Nsimba Webster and Collin Johnson from the practice squad.
This and that
Defensive end Yannick Ngakoue seems likely to play despite the Bears listing him as questionable. He was limited Thursday by a knee injury but practiced in full Friday.
υ Running back D’Onta Foreman (ankle) practiced in full all week and is available against the Lions.
υ Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson also is good to go after missing the Vikings game with an ankle injury.
