Burden’s reacts to his 65-yard TD strike, Kmet talks offensive breakthrough

Ariana Pensy · Correspondent · 4 hours ago

CHICAGO - Through the first two games of the season, rookie wide receiver Luther Burden III only played on 22 percent of the offensive snaps.

That changed in week three against the Dallas Cowboys, and he made his presence felt, especially on his 65-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter.

“Sure was a great play call by the head coach, great protection by the o-line, great ball by (quarterback) Caleb (Williams), and it was a (well) executed play … It’s great, it’s definitely a blessing. I’m happy to be in this position and be able to perform for my team,” Burden III said. “Caleb played a great game. It was a great week of practice from everybody and everybody did their job this week.”

Williams’ touchdown to Burden III was one of four he threw in Chicago’s 31-14 win over the Cowboys. His first touchdown was to wide receiver Rome Odunze, making him one of two players in the NFL to have at least one touchdown in each of the first three games through Sunday’s slate of games in week three. Wide receiver DJ Moore got his first touchdown of the season, as did tight end Cole Kmet.

Both were left wide open in the end zone by Dallas defenders.

“I thought they really schemed up some really good stuff conceptually even not just for the tight ends, but Luther’s play, (tight end) Colston (Loveland)’s play down the sideline, my play in the end zone, Rome’s play there,” Kmet said. “Just really well schemed up plays against that type of defense and did a good job of that. Caleb did a good job of distributing the football all over. So that was really good to see.”

There was a clear emphasis on getting the tight ends more involved in the passing game, reflected in Kmet’s touchdown and Loveland’s 31-yard reception in the first quarter. Unfortunately, that was Loveland’s only catch as he was forced to exit the game with a hip injury.

After pre-snap penalties plagued the Bears in the preseason and through the first two games of the regular season, it was nice to see that Chicago did not have any pre-snap penalties.

In addition, the Bears did not give up any sacks, marking the first time in Williams’ career he was not sacked.

“We still had some penalties (that) we need to knock down. But, I thought at the end of the day, (head coach Ben Johnson) dialed up some stuff. We hit on them and that’s what you have to do in these games,” Kmet said. “You got to hit the explosives when they’re there and we did that today and like I said, there are still a lot of mistakes that need to get cleaned up. But, it’s always better to do after a win.”

Perhaps the biggest thing to clean up is the inability to get the running game going. Chicago tried as they had six different people run the ball. However, running back D’Andre Swift has not proved he can be the bellcow the Bears wanted him to be as he finished this game with 13 attempts for 33 yards.

Rookie running back Kyle Monangai got more involved with six attempts for 16 yards, although that also includes an eight-yard loss in the redzone. That was certainly a learning opportunity for Monangai, even though he showed great effort on the play. Wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus actually had the longest rush of the game with a 12-yard run in the second quarter to help the Bears set up a 30-yard field goal. It was Chicago’s only trip to the redzone where they did not score a touchdown.

Chicago will look to carry this momentum into their next game against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, Sept. 28 (3:25 p.m. / CBS).