After hiring Ben Johnson to take over as head coach for the Chicago Bears, the franchise has exceeded expectations, leading the NFC North at 8-3. Some of the wins have been nail-biters, but the offense and defense have ebbed and flowed throughout the season.
For the offense, seeing improvement from second-year quarterback Caleb Williams was paramount, as the Bears have plenty of offensive pieces to build upon and see an improvement in 2024. While one of those weapons, wide receiver Rome Odunze, got off to a hot start in 2025, he’s cooled off significantly as the season has gone on, with another slow start in Week 13 on Black Friday.
What Happened to Chicago Bears WR Rome Odunze?
No, Odunze is not hurt; he’s actually played in all 11 games for the Bears this season. However, his explosive presence, which was often felt at the start of the season, has been noticeably absent in Week 13. Through two quarters, Williams has targeted Odunze five times. He’s caught two for eight yards.
To start the season, Odunze had a four-game touchdown streak and, despite a low total in Week 1, averaged 74 yards per game through the first four weeks of the season. That average has dropped lately as Odunze has averaged 45 yards over the past four games.
Rome Odunze at the half 🫠 pic.twitter.com/zIh4Wa2NhO
— SleeperNFL (@SleeperNFL) November 28, 2025
Despite his slowdown in production, Odunze still leads the Bears in targets (84), receptions (42), receiving yards (653), and touchdowns (six). What’s been interesting to see is the emergence of rookie wideout Luther Burden III. The former Missouri wide receiver has been connecting more and more with Williams as the season has progressed, eating into Odunze’s target share.
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Odunze is right on the outside of the top 25 receivers in the NFL according to PFSN’s WR Impact metric. He ranks 26th overall with a score of 78.3. While Burden hasn’t run quite enough routes to qualify for a WR Impact score, fellow Bears wideout D.J. Moore is ranked well below Odunze at 55th with a score of 73.
While the offense hasn’t been the best against the Eagles, it has been better than Philadelphia, which has struggled to get much going against Chicago’s defense.
The wind and weather aren’t helping, and this might be a week to rely on a rushing attack that gained 142 yards in the first half. Regardless of the halftime adjustments, the Bears must continue to play a fundamentally sound game if they want to pull off the upset.
Editor’s Note: This is a breaking news story and will be updated throughout the day as more information becomes available.