Caleb Williams is back for the Chicago Bears, and his presence made a world of difference against the Atlanta Falcons as the Bears got their fourth win of the season. However, they are still third in the NFC North, behind the undefeated Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers.
The Bears need a win on Thursday against the New England Patriots to keep pace in the division. Right now, they are favorites at home against the reigning AFC Champions, who are also coming into this game with a 4-2 record. However, their offense has been on fire lately, as quarterback Drake Maye has 10 touchdown passes in the past three games.
Chicago’s defense played much better against the Falcons with cornerback Kyler Gordon making his season debut. But they will
have some issues to deal with, especially with Jaylon Johnson, who is allowing quarterbacks to complete 82.6 percent of passes thrown his way.
If the Bears are going to win this game and get to 5-2, they must address these concerns:
New England’s wide receivers
Romeo Doubs may have just gone to injured reserve, but the Patriots also just got back star wide receiver A.J. Brown. Demario Douglas has also played incredibly well in the past two games. When Brown faced the Bears last season as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles, he had 10 receptions for 132 yards and two touchdowns. Brown knows how to get after this defense and Chicago’s secondary is dealing with injuries and Jaylon Johnson’s poor performance. Atlanta never targeted Johnson, but the Patriots are unlikely to make this mistake. The Bears need to be prepared to shut down New England’s receivers if they are going to win this game.
The Patriots’ run game
New England may not be good at getting rushing touchdowns, but they are good at running the ball. Rhamondre Stevenson has started every game for the Patriots so far this season and is currently their leading rusher with 263 rushing yards. They do a good job of splitting up who gets carries. Their last game is a good example of this; three different running backs had at least seven attempts. Therefore, the Patriots are going to be able to keep their backs fresh, so the Bears have to be prepared to stop all of their running backs. After shutting down Bijan Robinson last week, this certainly seems like something Chicago’s defense can handle.
Chicago’s inability to run the ball without Monangai
Not having Kyle Monangai has been a huge loss for the Bears. Without him in the lineup, Chicago has struggled to run the ball, including last week in their win against Atlanta. In that game, they only had 98 total rushing yards and averaged just three yards per carry. New England also happens to have a top-10 rushing defense, so the Bears cannot afford to keep struggling to run the ball. They do not want to get into a position of having a one-dimensional offense against this defense.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: 3 causes for concern as the Bears face the Patriots in Week 7
