NFL
By: Greg Rector
Dallas at Chicago
The Cowboys travel to the ” Windy City,” to face the Bears on Thursday night.
Keys :
The Cowboys offense needs to play mistake-free first and foremost. The Bears defense might not be having as good a season overall as last year, however, they can still be a formidable adversary. Giving up possession of the ball especially in your own end has been a game killer for Dallas lately. The Bears are coming off two straight wins, however, like Dallas, they have feasted on teams under .500 so both of these 6-6 teams need to prove they can actually beat someone not considered a league doormat. If this is the week the Cowboys actually use their backfield and the big boy’s upfront, then they can take advantage of what has been a much weaker Bears secondary than last year’s squad. I look for Cobb, Gallup, and Witten to be the key receivers as the Bears will try to take Amari out of the mix as much as possible. I also think Pollard must be used as a pass-catcher out of the backfield.
Defense: Mitchell Trubisky, had success last year when he roamed out of the pocket and used his legs and arm. This year he has less than 100 yards rushing, compared to over 400 last season. Making him a pocket passer has exposed his weaknesses, and if the Cowboys can keep him bottled up as he was earlier in the season they can have success in limiting the Bears offense. It hasn’t made any sense to me to see how Nagy has not let Trubisky, run more. The Bears will start Tarik Cohen the small firefly back, and then feature David Montgomery a prototypical north-south runner who will be physical. Given the way this season has gone, I look for Montgomery to have a good game. The real threat in the passing game is Allen Robinson, a guy much in the mold of Keenan Allen, who can accumulate a lot of catches in a game.
Prediction: Given as were going to see two 6-6 teams, that are both inconsistent, erratic, and high;y frustrating to watch, the fact the Cowboys will again be in a cold-weather game, and that I am celebrating my 55th birthday on Thursday(won’t be the first time they have lost on this day), I am giving the edge to the Bears in this one 21-17. Hope they prove me wrong, but after the last two games, I fear this team has too many issues internally to simply go out and beat a team they are better than.
You can find me on Twitter @GregCowboys
