They are coming off a truly surprising victory on Monday, so it seems silly to ask…
Why Do I Like the Chicago Bears This Week?
I.
Always.
Like.
THE.
Chicago.
Bears.
Biggest Mismatch of the Season
There is, quite literally, no reason to overwrite the game preview this week. The game is going to be decided by the answer to single question: can the Bears block the Cowboys? And to this point in the season, no one has.
Dallas has 91 pressures, 12 more than the next team.
They have a pressure percentage of 32.6%, tops in the sport.
They have 29 sacks, averaging more than four per game: again, best in the league.
This is a matchup that should be expected to wreck the game. The Bears have a banged up offensive line, and their healthy offensive line weren’t particularly good pass blockers anyway.
This is also the most significant challenge Luke Getsy and Justin Fields have faced all season. And I list them as a duo intentionally, because the Bears won’t move the football or contend Sunday if the two men are not operating with a singular, cohesive plan.
Getsy needs to structure the offense around protection. Keep Cole Kmet on the edge, employ an extra lineman, etc. But he also needs to exploit what will certainly be a salivating pass rush. This is the week to use the screen game as a weapon and, if possible, get Velus Jones into the scheme, because his speed could keep Dallas somewhat off-balance.
Fields needs to understand that (a) he will be under consistent duress and (b) he can’t let that duress cause game-ending mistakes. He needs to take the easy throw, even when the easy throw is into the fourth row. When the pocket is collapsing, he needs to quickly use his legs and get what he can on the ground. Waiting for wide receivers to get open Sunday will lead to a replication of the Cleveland game a year ago. These receivers need ages to get open and Fields won’t have ages in the pocket.
If the Bears find a way to block the Cowboys, even half-decently, they can win Sunday. But that will be their most difficult task undertaken this season.
Three Favorite ‘Dallas’ Things
I have never been to Dallas, Texas. So, this list is, well, nonsense.
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(3) The Closing Sequence of Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins
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(2) The Theme from Dallas
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(1) Stella Dallas
Where are the Bears Statistically?
- Offense: 28th in yards, 24th in points.
- Defense: 12th in yards, 7th in points.
Folks keep reinventing how we “rank” offenses and defense – a silly endeavor because ranks are meaningless – but if one simply takes the average of these two statistics, one gets a rather complete picture of how the unit is performing. If I simply said to you, “The Bears are a bottom six offense and a top ten defense,” wouldn’t that be sufficient?
Tomorrow: Prediction!
