Chicago Bears: 5 Players who must shine vs. Chargers in Week 8

Roquan Smith, Linebacker

Okay, so we know something happened to Roquan Smith that caused him to miss the Minnesota Vikings game. The team and Smith only said that it was a personal thing but wouldn’t elaborate more than that.

Smith only missed that one game, but something is different in his return. He had nine tackles against the Oakland  Raiders in London but just six against the Saints. Furthermore, he only played on 69 percent of the snaps against the Saints. His lowest percentage of snaps played before that was 89 percent in London. In his first three games, he played in 98 percent, 100 percent, and 92 percent of snaps.

So far this season, Smith has 39 tackles, but only one for loss. Also, he has no quarterback hits, let alone sacks. Last season he recorded five sacks and eight tackles for loss. While he’s still making his tackles (he’s on pace for 117 after getting 121 last season), he isn’t wreaking havoc as he did last year. He’s been quiet, almost too quiet.

The Bears need for Smith to come out and be the beast that he’s shown to be. He needs to get into the Chargers’ backfield and strike fear into quarterback Philip Rivers and the running backs.

Los Angeles is a team that is falling apart at the seams. They had 22 players on the injury report, 11 of them on injured reserve. They have three offensive linemen on injured reserve and another dealing with an injury. Additionally, they have 5 receivers/tight ends on injured reserve. This is an offensive unit that Smith and the rest of the defense should overwhelm.

Smith and his defensive teammates need to use this defense to help their ills the same way the offense did against Washington. Rivers is a talented quarterback, but his weapons are all in the medical room.

If Smith doesn’t have a big game this week we need to worry a great deal more about what he’s going through.