The Chicago Bears journey to tackle the Los Angeles Chargers. They attempt to begin a profitable streak lastly. Listed here are daring predictions.
The Chicago Bears pulled off an enormous upset final week after they beat the Las Vegas Raiders 30-12. They went into the sport beat up with accidents and had to make use of a rookie quarterback who was enjoying in entrance of simply over 2,100 followers a yr earlier.
This week, Chicago is trying to pull off one other upset. They play one other AFC West staff, the Los Angeles Chargers. This sport will probably be somewhat harder to win, nonetheless. The Chargers have among the best offenses within the NFL. They rank eleventh in factors and eighth in yards. Moreover, they defend the ball nicely, rating second in turnovers dedicated.
The Bears, in the meantime, rank thirteenth in factors and 18th in yards. They rank twenty first in turnovers dedicated, nonetheless. They should defend the ball in the event that they need to pull off the upset.
The rookie quarterback, Tyson Bagent, will begin as soon as once more. Starter Justin Fields nonetheless has not fully healed from his dislocated thumb. That provides Bagent a shot to strut his stuff in entrance of a primetime viewers. The sport will probably be on Sunday Night time Soccer.
It has solely been one sport however Bagent is giving off Brock Purdy vibes. Purdy was Mr. Irrelevant in final yr’s draft. That’s the title given to the ultimate decide of the draft. He ended up getting a shot and led the San Francisco 49ers to the NFC Championship sport earlier than an harm knocked him out of the sport.
If Bagent does win once more then the discuss him remaining will develop. We’ll see what occurs Sunday night time. For now, let’s make some daring predictions.
The protection continues to play nicely
The Chicago Bears protection has had a resurgence. Throughout the dropping streak, the protection gave up a ton of factors. Within the first 4 video games, they allowed a mean of 34.2 factors per sport and 383.2 yards per sport. Over the previous three video games, although, these averages dropped to 17 factors and 281 yards.
Count on the protection to proceed the development. Head coach Matt Eberflus took over after former coordinator Allen Williams resigned. Eberflus efficiently ran a protection when he was the defensive coordinator with the Indianapolis Colts. His defenses there ranked close to the highest in almost each class.
The Bears’ secondary has taken an enormous step. Jaylon Johnson has been among the many greatest cornerbacks within the league. Quarterbacks have a 24.7 passer ranking when concentrating on him. Additionally, he has but to surrender a landing this season. Whereas different cornerbacks get the eye, Johnson is outplaying them.
The protection ramped up the turnovers. After forcing simply two turnovers within the first 4 video games, the Bears compelled six previously three. They want extra of that on Sunday.
Towards the run, the protection seems to be just like the brick wall that we noticed from them years in the past. Within the first 4 video games, Chicago gave up 115.5 yards per sport. Up to now three video games, they gave up 114 complete yards. After rating thirty first towards the run in 2022, they rank eighth this season.
The one space the protection nonetheless has enhancing to do is the cross rush. The Bears ranked final in sacks final season. They rank thirty first this season. They should discover a approach to get to the quarterback. If the inside of the road is doing its job and making opponents one-dimensional, the cross rush has to make them pay for it.
Count on Yannick Ngakoue to have a superb sport. He must step up and assist enhance the cross rush. If not, Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert may carve up the Chicago Bears secondary.
Prediction: The Bears’ protection holds the Chargers’ offense to 283 complete yards, 53 on the bottom. Ngakoue registers two sacks.
The offense has an enormous sport
The Bears had a superb offensive sport final week. That they had 323 yards of offense. Nevertheless, they’d extra speeding yards (173) than passing yards (150).
Bagent did an amazing job doing what the coaches wished from him. They didn’t need him to have to fret about carrying the offense. Fortunately, the speeding sport had an enormous sport. Bagent did what he did and he prevented making any massive errors.
After fumbling the ball away and throwing an interception within the earlier week, he had no turnovers towards the Raiders. Not turning the ball over is essential for Bagent. We don’t understand how he may convey the staff again from a deficit.
The receivers will probably be vital for the Bagent and the Bears. The Chargers rank final in passing yards allowed. Moreover, they rank twenty ninth in passing yards, and twenty first in interception.
Whereas Bagent doesn’t have an enormous arm, his accuracy may assist. If he can get the ball to the receivers in stride, D.J. Moore, Darnell Mooney, and Tyler Scott are athletic and elusive sufficient to take quick yards and switch them into massive good points. With Los Angeles’ tendency to overlook tackles, Bagent won’t should throw the ball deep. If the receivers can get numerous yards after the catch, that works in addition to throwing it deep downfield.
Prediction: Bagent finishes with 275 yards passing and a couple of touchdowns. He runs for 43 yards and a landing.
The speeding sport has a battle with the Chargers protection
As talked about earlier, the Chicago Bears offense acquired a lift from the working sport final week. Actually, the speeding assault has steadily risen because the season progresses. After being caught in the midst of the pack early within the season, the Bears now rank fourth.
The working assault will get some added assist this week. It seems to be like Roschon Johnson will return. He missed the final two weeks with a concussion. He’s nonetheless in concussion protocol however he has accomplished all steps however one. Eberflus says he’s assured that Johnson will cross the protocol and go well with up.
Having Johnson again is vital. The Chargers rank eleventh in speeding yards allowed. They haven’t been as nice because the Bears within the final three video games however they’ve nonetheless been fairly good. They allowed 240 yards, 80 speeding yards per sport.
It will likely be essential for the working sport to be efficient. If the Bears may management the clock and preserve Herbert on the bench watching the sport, then the possibilities of an upset improve. Final week, the Bears had the ball for 9 extra minutes than Las Vegas. Their first two drives within the second half took 14:50 off the clock. They want that once more this week.
Prediction: The Bears get 154 speeding yards and a couple of touchdowns.
