3 Bears on Thin Ice Heading Into Week 2

2. Keenan Allen, WR

For several years, the Chicago Bears seemed to do everything they could to put more pressure on Justin Fields without giving him any help. They tried to use players such as Velus Jones, Jr. as his top wideouts, then wondered why he couldn't get the job done.

In 2023, they finally got him some help in the form of D.J. Moore. As expected, he had the best season of his career. Chicago then shipped him off since they had their mind made up on Caleb Williams. Now in Pittsburgh, Fields has to be wondering why Chicago suddenly decided to get some offensive weapons.

Not only did they lock up Moore and tight end Cole Kmet, but they took Rome Odunze in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft and brought in veteran Keenan Allen. Unfortunately for them, Allen and Odunze were incredibly quiet in Week 1. They also both wound up injured and didn't practice on Wednesday.

The good news is that each might have a chance to play but they're going to need to see them both play better since Odunze had one reception for 11 yards on four targets whereas Allen had four catches for 29 yards on 11 targets.

Not every pass was catchable but Allen didn't do much at all to help his young quarterback, evident by a 57.9 receiving grade from PFF.

Odunze is still young enough that he shouldn't be considered "on thin ice," but Allen was supposed to be a veteran leader. Instead, he showed up to camp out of shape and now had a poor outing in Week 1. It's not time to panic but he needs to get it together in a hurry.