For the second game in a row, the Chicago Bears are playing in prime time. After facing the New England Patriots on Thursday Night Football, the Bears get to play against the Seattle Seahawks, who are coming off a dominant 20-3 win over the Kansas City Chiefs.
In a tight NFC North race, every game matters. The undefeated Minnesota Vikings will be facing the Detroit Lions, who are currently No. 3 in the division. Meanwhile, the Green Bay Packers are last in the division with a 5-3 record after their Thursday night win over the Carolina Panthers.
Chicago’s defense will be front and center after their trade for All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons. His performance, as well as the rest of the defense, may be the difference between the Bears winning
or losing this game.
If the Bears are going to win this game and get to 6-2, they must overcome these concerns:
Seahawks' dominant defense
There are a lot of causes for concern with this Seahawks’ defense. The Dark Side defense may be one of the most formidable defensive units in the NFL in a long time, perhaps even better than Seattle’s Legion of Boom. Through the first seven weeks, the Seahawks defense is top-10 in almost every statistical category. They completely dismantled the previously undefeated Chiefs in their last game and shut down running back Kenneth Walker III, who had been the top back in the NFL before that game. This Seattle defense is going to cause a lot of problems for Chicago’s offense in both the run game and the passing game.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Their offense is not as good as last year, but they still have the best wide receiver in the NFL in Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Through the first seven weeks of the season, he leads the NFL in receiving yards (867), receiving touchdowns (eight), longest reception (82 yards), yards per game (123.9) and yards per touch (14.7). He has over 100 receiving yards in every game this season except against the Los Angeles Chargers. If the Bears can slow him down, they will have a much better chance of winning this game.
Seahawks’ running backs
One reason this offense is not as good as last season is because of the run game. It is not as efficient as last season and that is hurting the offense. However, the Seahawks could return to full strength at running back on Monday night. Not only could rookie Jadarian Price come back for this game after being on injured reserve, the Seahawks could also get Zach Charbonnet back for the first time this season. Charbonnet has not played since tearing his ACL during the playoffs last season, but he had a productive season when he was able to play.
Follow Bears Wire onTwitter,Facebook andInstagram
This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: 3 causes for concern as the Bears face the Seahawks in Week 8
