On his third preseason snap ever as a member of the Bears last year, receiver DJ Moore took a quick screen pass 62 yards for a touchdown. “‘When you increase your skill on your football team,” coach Matt Eberflus said then, “the catch-and-runs get larger and the stat lines look better.” In just his second snap as a member of the Bears on Saturday, running back D’Andre Swift took a screen pass 42 yards in an eventual 33-6 win against the Bills.
Swift is the logical conclusion of the Bears’ quest, which began with the trade for Moore and apexed in March, to surround their quarterback with skill — even if the quarterback, Caleb Williams, is different from last year’s model. Signed to three-year, $24 million deal this offseason, Swift was the ultimate luxury item for a team with plenty of money. The Bears went from spending $5.
78 million in salary cap space on all their running backs combined last season to paying Swift $5.83 million in cap space this year. Only seven running backs in the NFL make more.
Saturday, Swift looked worth every penny. On the fifth play of the game — first-and-10 at the Bears’ 40 —Swift pretended to pass block, stutter-stepped and waited for the trap to be set. By the time Williams tossed a middle screen to him, looking for all the world like a shot-putter on fast forward, there were two blockers in front of the Bears running back.
Swift caught the ball at the line of scrimmage and bounced left around a block from center Coleman S.