CHICAGO — The Kansas City Chiefs didn’t have an explanation after Dwayne Bowe, their top wide receiver, was shut out in the wild-card-round loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
For Indianapolis’ Reggie Wayne, who had 111 receptions in the regular season, it was at least explainable
. He traveled to Revis Island and Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis limited him to one catch for 1 yard in the Colts’ loss.
Now, as the Bears prepare for Sunday’s divisional-round meeting with the Seattle Seahawks, wide receiver Johnny Knox needs to rebound from a blanking in the regular-season finale against the Packers.
As the wild-card round shows, it’s tough for an offense to succeed when its top option in the passing game can’t contribute. Knox finished as the Bears’ leader with 51 receptions for 950 yards and five touchdowns. His average of 18.8 yards per reception was fifth in the NFL.
It’s not that Knox is the key to the Bears’ success, but they need production out of him after Jay Cutler targeted him eight times and did not complete one pass to him at Lambeau Field against the Packers.
“It just happened,” wide receivers coach Darryl Drake said. “It does happen in this league. Name me one receiver who hasn’t gotten shut out. It just happened to be one of those games. I’m glad it happened then.”
It has to be of concern, especially if the Bears advance and wind up facing the Packers in the NFC final. Knox is the one Bears receiver who can consistently stretch a defense, and the offense needs to be able to pick up yardage in chunks from time to time. The good news is that Knox’s career high of 120 yards came in the first meeting with the Seahawks. He had five receptions, including a 67-yarder.
The Packers might have the best secondary of any team that qualified for the postseason with cornerbacks Charles Woodson and Tramon Williams and safety Nick Collins. It’s not the first time the Packers smothered the Bears’ receivers. In a 37-3 loss at Lambeau Field in 2008, wide receivers caught only four passes. The Seahawks won’t present that same kind of challenge, not unless they can blitz with the same success they had in the first meeting when they sacked Cutler six times. Still, Cutler passed for 290 yards in that game, his second-highest total of the season.
So what happened against the Packers?
“It’s just one of those things that didn’t work out,” Knox said.
Sunday will be Knox’s first playoff game.
“People say they play harder in the playoffs,” Knox said. “To me, it’s just like a regular-season game. It’s going to mean a lot. One of my biggest games that I am going to ever play in. I’m going to go out there, not put any pressure on my shoulders, just go out there and have fun.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
