For two of the most recognizable brands in the NFL, it may come as a surprise that Sunday’s meeting between the Dallas Cowboys and Chicago Bears at Solider Field will be just the 29th meeting in this series’ history. The Cowboys have the edge with 16 wins to 12 losses, making their first visit to the Windy City since a December 2019 loss. Amazingly, when it comes to meetings between these teams in Chicago, the Cowboys and Bears have alternated wins and losses for nine games in a row. The last Cowboys win at the Bears came
in 2014 with a 41-28 victory, and the most recent overall meeting between these sides was also a 49-29 Cowboys win from AT&T Stadium in 2022.
The Cowboys are coming into Sunday’s week three matchup off their first 40-point performance of the season and first since week 13 of 2023 vs. the Seahawks. It took overtime for the Cowboys to hit this mark against the Giants, but now going up against a Bears defense that allowed 52 points last week at the Lions, the hope is the Cowboys offense can start finding a consistent stride to put pressure on the Bears.
The Cowboys offense coming into this game feels like the much more established unit compared to their defense, which has plenty of reasons to be the center of attention in this matchup. Dallas got new wide receiver George Pickens his first touchdown with the team against the Giants, continued to target CeeDee Lamb, and leaned on Javontae Williams out of the backfield. The players they can trust on this side of the ball have been established quickly this season, with a clear pecking order starting at the top with QB Dak Prescott. Dallas relying on Prescott to be – at times – the best overall player on the field for either team in order to compete is a familiar place to be, but when it comes to this year under a new coaching staff, probably not where they’d ideally like to be.
Defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus is one of the most experienced coaches on Brian Schottenheimer’s staff, with previous experience in Dallas, and most recently was head coach of this week’s opponent the Bears. These factors have not led to Eberflus’ defense being able to break the streak of Dallas starting off seasons poorly on this side of the ball, be it under Dan Quinn, Mike Zimmer, or Flus.
There were some positive moments for the Cowboys defense in week one against the Eagles, but that was against an offense being called by a first-time coordinator, still in a losing effort, while playing entirely zone coverage. This zone trend continued against the Giants, and Russell Wilson had a career day throwing over the top of it.
Will the extra motivation for Eberflus to fix these defensive busts against his old team be a bigger factor than the motivation of Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson to get things going in the right direction for the Bears and earn their first win? Williams has completed 60% of his passes in both Bears losses this season, spread the ball around to a deep list of pass catchers, and made plays with his legs as well. The Cowboys may still have an advantage at the position thanks to Prescott, but Williams and the Bears offense present a real challenge to the Cowboys defense. In his only other home game this season, Williams went six-for-six on the Bears’ opening drive and ran in a touchdown. The Bears appeared in control all night on a Monday versus the Vikings, but let the game slip away late and now find themselves in an 0-2 hole for the second time in three years.
Just like the Giants last week in Arlington, the Bears are a desperate opponent the Cowboys will have to match in intensity. Coming out in a passive zone defense against a Ben Johnson offense that put up 47 points against the Cowboys a season ago (with the Lions) feels like a tenuous way to do this, but the Cowboys secondary is still without DaRon Bland, rookie Shavon Revel, or Caelen Carson.
No matter what level it comes from, the Cowboys defense needs a playmaker they can rely on to bring a spark right now, and will be searching for that still in the absence of Micah Parsons in their third game at the Bears. The last time these two teams met, Parsons had a 36-yard fumble return touchdown to make it a three-score lead for the Cowboys in the third quarter.
The leash for Williams to remain the starter in Chicago now in just his second season as the number one overall pick is still a long one, especially under a new offensive-minded coach, but also because this franchise has not known consistently good quarterback play for an awfully long time. Interestingly enough when it comes to meetings against the Cowboys, it hasn’t always mattered. In that 2019 win for the Bears against the Cowboys at home, Mitch Trubisky completed 74.2% of his passes for 244 yards and three touchdowns to win 31-24. The Cowboys asked Prescott to drop back 49 times compared to just 22 runs (three of which were Dak scrambles), and fell behind 17-7 by halftime when Trubisky scored on all three of the Chicago’s possessions in the second quarter.
The Cowboys being able to establish the run game early against the Bears would be a very welcome sight to avoid a similar type of script to not only this 2019 loss, but last week against the Giants. The Bears have allowed the sixth-most rushing yards in the league so far this season, including touchdowns to both Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery for the Lions last week. Whether or not Matt Eberflus can get into any of the second half calls he made against the Eagles and use his knowledge of the Bears personnel to the Cowboys’ advantage could depend on the Cowboys offense getting off to a better start.
The Bears have allowed both of their opponents this year to score on at least three consecutive drives, both times to seize control of the game. The Lions turned a 21-14 lead into a 45-14 blowout with three passing touchdowns and a field goal last week. In week one, J.J. McCarthy, making his first start at QB for the Vikings, turned a 17-12 Bears lead into a 27-17 fourth quarter Vikings lead with two passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown of his own.
The Bears currently have the unfortunate company alongside only the Browns and Giants as teams that are not only 0-2, but with both losses coming against division opponents. In what looks like yet another strong season for the rest of the NFC North (Dallas will see Green Bay at home next week in primetime), the season is already slipping away for Chicago. Not letting Dak Prescott come in and control the game from start to finish against them should be a top priority. Trying to establish Williams in the game against Eberflus’ reeling defense may be their best plan of attack. If the Cowboys have any answers from their pass rush, with the addition of Jadeveon Clowney at defensive end this week, it could go a long way in affecting Williams as the Bears have allowed six sacks through two games.
The Cowboys putting up points against the Bears has not been much of a problem, but allowing points has despite not facing elite talent at QB has. The resiliency they showed against the Giants to get coach Schotty’s first win should go a long way again this week, but the Cowboys need to do a much better job controlling the game in the ways they desire with their offensive line, run game, and efficiency in the pass game.
Doing these things would also provide an honest playing field to evaluate Eberflus’ defense in an emotional game for him, looking to play with the lead and hunt for takeaways while eliminating big plays in their zone. Ben Johnson may already be realizing some of the difficulties of going from a hot play-calling coordinator to a head coach, but has success scheming against the Cowboys in the past to lean on in week three. Eberflus is back in the coordinator role, but still searching for the right scheme answers to slow down a QB drafted while he was the head coach for Chicago.
