NFL
By: Kristy Love
The Chicago Bears are traveling to Foxborough, MA, with a terrible offense and a 3 game-losing streak. It’s a lot of baggage to unload however, as always, we are going to break down key points to get a victory over the New England Patriots on Monday Night Football.
The Bears lost to the Washington Commanders over 10 days ago on TNF. The Bears only scored 7 points, which was a touchdown that came in the third quarter. The Commanders answered back with 9 points in the 4th, giving the Commanders their 2nd win of the season.
In the press conference after the game, Bears quarterback Justin Fields stated that he is tired of being almost there. As they took yet another tough loss. So with that, here are a few key points that the Bears need to take into account to get the win against Bill Belichick.
Score in the red zone
The Bears struggle offensively with getting to the goal line and scoring touchdowns this season. Thursday loss against the Commanders was a great example of that. The Bears had 3 opportunities to score a touchdown in the first half of that game. One of those three chances came from an overthrown pass in the end zone from Fields to Ryan Griffin on second and goal. Another example was the game-ending pass to Darnell Mooney on 4th and goal at the 1-yard line. Somehow someway, the Chicago Bears need to capitalize on these drives and SCORE in the red zone.
The offensive line needs to block
The Chicago Bears are known to have a bad offensive line. It’s expected at this point. However, it hasn’t been this bad for the Bears. Justin Fields cannot catch a break week after week as he continues to take hit after hit from his failed offensive line. On top of getting horrifying hits, a lot of those hits are often sacks, which causes the offense to have to pick up additional yards from the loss. Its clear as day, this line is not doing its job at all. The Bears coaches are trying to make adjustments to the line to help this offense. They took it upon themselves to bench offensive linemen Sam Mustphier for Monday’s game against the Patriots.
The news came out over the weekend as it was reported by ESPN 1000 and NBC Sports Chicago’s David Kaplan as the offensive line will go under a few changes. Mustphier will be benched, and in his absence, Lucas Patrick will take his place at center from his left guard spot. Veteran lineman Michael Scofield will take Patrick’s place at left guard, and the rest of the lineup will remain the same.
Its not much improvement, but it shows that the organization is trying to correct a problem with this inconsistent offense.
Strengthen the passing game
The Chicago Bears showed progress with their passing regimen on Thursdays, loss to the Commanders. Justin Fields probably had his best pass completion in Thursday’s game when he threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to receiver Dante Pettis. It was a well-executed play from Fields. To beat the Patriots, the Bears will need a lot more of those types of plays. Fields needs to continue to move the chains by using his arm more and legs less. There is also major work that needs to be done for our receivers. They need to find ways to not only get open but to secure the ball to make big-time plays. The many wide-open and blown one-on-one drops are not giving the team a shot at winning. This needs to be the game plan from kickoff, and it doesn’t make this task any easier as the Patriots are fourth in pass defense against their opponent.
Stop playing from being the ball.
The whole season, the Chicago Bears have been playing from behind the ball and barely scrapping wins to beat their opponents. In the past few games, the Bears lost in the final seconds, literally. To minimize this, the Bears need to find ways to get out and score early, and the defense needs to keep the opponent off the field. If the bears can do that, they will have a good shot of winning.
The New England Patriots are coming off of a 2 game-winning streak after beating the Cleveland Browns 38-15. Patriots QB Bailey Zappe had his first career 300-yard game against the Browns, and he was 24/34 in completions with 2 touchdowns. However, the Bears are ranked 11th in defense overall, with Safety Eddie Jackson leading in sacks. The Patriots’ offense will have its hands full completely.
Kickoff for the Chicago Bears is set for 7:15 CST in Foxborough, MA. The broadcast is on ESPN
Follow me on Twitter: @IamKristyLove
