SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The Bears have good wide receivers. The teams in Super Bowl LX have great ones. That changes everything for an offense.
When the Seahawks and Patriots meet Sunday at Levi’s Stadium, each has a top-tier downfield threat with the ability to burn a defense at any time. Jaxon Smith-Njigba just put up an all-time season for the Seahawks, and Patriots star Stefon Diggs has been among the NFL’s elite for the past decade.
“They’re about to put on a show,” Bears wide receiver DJ Moore told the Sun-Times at Radio Row. “I definitely know Diggs is. He lives for these moments. And Jaxon just has to do what he’s been doing all year.”
After a breakout season in which the Bears soared out of their mediocrity to win the NFC North and reach the divisional round of the playoffs, the next step is fight for a spot in the Super Bowl. That means they need to check the rest of the boxes for a championship-caliber team, and an overwhelming receiver is one of those necessities.
Bears coach Ben Johnson prides himself on using a variety of players in the passing game to maintain unpredictability, and that approach makes sense. A true No. 1 receiver would actually enhance that part of his offense by drawing disproportionate attention and loosening up the secondary for others.
That’s certainly the case for the Patriots. Diggs did roughly his usual work with 85 catches for 1,013 yards and four touchdowns, and the threat he presented opened things up for journeyman Mack Hollins and former sixth-round pick Kayshon Boutte to make meaningful contributions. Tight end Hunter Henry also had a career year in his 10th season.
“Every receiver wants the ball and wants 150 targets a year, and that may or may not happen,” Patriots coach Mike Vrabel said. “That group has provided us a lot of production from different guys. It wasn’t just Stef. Everybody contributed.”
It’s possible the Bears already have what they need in Rome Odunze, the No. 9 pick two years ago, or Moore, but neither was at that level this season. Odunze missed the last five games of the regular season because of foot injuries and called his overall performance disappointing, and Moore’s production dropped to the lowest of his career.
The passing attack all starts with that focal point, as Johnson knows well from having Amon-Ra St. Brown with the Lions.
The Seahawks found theirs in the draft, taking Smith-Njigba 20th overall as the top receiver in what was thought at the time to be a down year for the position. The Bears took right tackle Darnell Wright, a second-team All-Pro this season, at No. 10 that year.
Smith-Njigba began his career in the shadow of Seahawks star DK Metcalf, then played so well the team was able to deal Metcalf to the Steelers for a haul of draft picks going into this season.
As the undisputed star of the show, Smith-Njigba caught 119 passes for 1,793 yards and 10 touchdowns. No Bears player got within 1,000 yards of that total, which was the eighth-highest in a season in league history. Smith-Njigba then caught 10 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown in the NFC Championship Game to get here.
While Diggs beats defenders with all-world speed, even at 32, Smith-Njigba is as technically sound as any receiver in the league and has the versatility to line up anywhere in the formation. He does everything, which is a big part of why he’s difficult to cover.
“Not many people slow down JSN,” Vrabel said.
The same could be said of Diggs, who has topped 1,000 yards seven times in 11 seasons with the Vikings, Bills, Texans and Patriots. He was an exhausting matchup for the Bears in his first five seasons with the Vikings.
He missed half of last season with a torn ACL, but recovered well enough to get a three-year, $63.5 million contract from the Patriots as they sought to accelerate their rebuild in free agency. He’s had great individual seasons and got close to the Super Bowl a few times, but finally reached it with the Patriots.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Diggs said Thursday. “It’s been a hell of a year, hell of a team, hell of a coaching staff. I’m not really about storybook endings, but hopefully this one ends right.
“Any of those [Vikings or Bills] teams could’ve gone to the Super Bowl…. This is just how it happened for me. We’ve got an opportunity now.”
Diggs warned that he has “a lot more football in front of me, too,” so he doesn’t few this is as his first and last shot at a title.
Ideally for the Bears, their answers are in-house with Odunze and Moore, and Johnson used both of them to their strengths this season.
Moore is savvy and versatile and can play out of the slot or even at running back, and Odunze has high potential as a deep threat. If those two are leading the way, it makes everything easier for players like Luther Burden and Colston Loveland, and that’s the level of firepower it takes to get to a Super Bowl.
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