Chicago Bears: What to expect in Week 7 game vs. Patriots

Special teams has to help, not hurt

The special teams unit has done a good job, for the most part, this season. After letting veteran punter Pat O’Donnell leave via free agency, general manager Ryan Poles went with a rookie to replace him, Trenton Gill. Gill has done a good job replacing O’Donnell so far, however. He ranks 10th in the league in punt average. With more seasoning, he will only become better.

Cairo Santos is his own dependable self. He has made all seven of his field goal attempts, including a 51-yard boot. Even in his absence (he missed Week 4 because of a personal matter), Michael Badgley stepped in and made all four of his attempts. The problem has been with the return game. On kickoffs, they rank just 20th with 21.3 yards per return. They rank 30th with an average of a paltry 4.4 yards per return.

Velus Jones Jr was drafted in the third round. In addition to his wide receiver duties, the Bears wanted him to uplift the return game. He has failed to do that thus far. Jones has blazing speed but hasn’t shown it in the return game. His college film is filled with great returns but we haven’t seen that in Chicago yet. He has to get back to that.

Also, Jones has to work on holding onto the ball. He has two fumbles late in games that helped cost the Bears two games.

In Week 4 against the New York Giants, the Bears were down 20-12. The defense forced a punt with 2:13 left in the game and had a chance to tie the game. Instead, Jones muffed the punt and New York recovered, ending the comeback bid.

Last week against Washington, with eight minutes left in the game and the Bears up 7-6, the defense again forced a punt. Again, Jones muffed the punt and Washington recovered. On the ensuing drive, the Commanders scored the go-ahead touchdown.

Both fumbles weren’t forced by the opponents. Jones was alone and just dropped the punts. He has to stop the muff punts so the team has a better chance to win games.