After their bye week, the Chicago Bears hit the tough part of their schedule. How they fare after those games goes a long way to deciding their playoff hopes.
After a disappointing loss to the Oakland Raiders in London in Week 5, the Chicago Bears‘ bye week comes at the right time. They are discombobulated and hurt, and their confidence has taken a big hit. Even though they stand at 3-2, they expected more. The offense has struggled all season and the defense took a hit from the Raiders. They didn’t look anything like the elite unit they’ve been the last two seasons.
Many are asking questions, including coaches and players. There is miscommunication on the field and the players aren’t winning their one-on-one battles, especially on the offensive line.
Now the Bears can spend the bye week regrouping and getting things back on track. They better, because after that bye week they have the toughest stretch of the season. They face the New Orleans Saints, the Los Angeles Chargers, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Detroit Lions, and the Los Angeles Rams. Those teams are a combined 14-9-1 this season.
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The Bears may or may not have quarterback Mitchell Trubisky back from his shoulder injury. Even so, without an improvement on the line, no matter who is at quarterback the offense will continue to struggle.
These next five games will go a long way in determining the Bears’ playoff hopes. The offense cannot continue to struggle the way it has and fulfill the hope of competing for a playoff spot. They need to put up some points so they could take some pressure off of the defense. If the defense is on the field too much or if they need to continually score to give the Bears a chance to win, the unit will start to suffer.
Yes, the final six games are also tough. They face all three of their division foes and they have matchups against the Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs. Still, if they struggle in the next five weeks those games might not matter. If they put it together and succeed at turning things around, however, they’ll still be in the race for the division title and have a firm grip on a playoff spot.
Before their Week 4 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings, I called the game critical for the Bears’ season. They came through with flying colors, dominating them and holding the NFL’s leading rusher, Dalvin Cook, to just 35 yards rushing.
They need to step up again in the next month or so.
It will be interesting to see if the Bears step up. This has been a frustrating season so far, with not much happening the way it was planned out. There have been games that they should have lost but won, along with games they should have won but lost. Let’s hope things go smoother from here on out.
Some say it’s too early to panic after the Raiders loss. Perhaps, but how many more frustrating losses need to pile up before the time arrives? Yes, they were 3-3 after they played six games last season.
But again, they are playing a first-place schedule this season as opposed to the last-place schedule they had last season. They have the weapons to get it done, but they haven’t put it together yet. They have this bye week to work on it before they face the schedule once again.
Let’s hope they get it together and save this season. If not, things will become testier than they are now.
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