The Chicago Bears are still smarting after suffering a devastating loss in Week 10 against the Detroit Lions. They blew a 14-point, fourth-quarter lead. Then, after they regained the lead, kicker Cairo Santos missed the extra point. That ended up being the difference in a 31-30 loss.
Now they need to forget what happened and get to the matter at hand. They travel to take on the Atlanta Falcons. With a 4-6 record, the Falcons are not much better than the Bears, who are 3-7. However, the Falcons are still in the playoff race, locked in battle with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the NFC South title while the Bears are in last place in the NFC North.
The Bears need to win this game or they could see things get very ugly. After they play Atlanta, they have a tough road ahead, facing the New York Jets, Green Bay Packers, Philadelphia Eagles, and Buffalo Bills. The Eagles and Bills are Super Bowl contenders, while the Jets are in the hunt in the tough AFC East.
While Green Bay is struggling at 4-6, they are the Bears’ tormentors so beating them is a tall task. The Falcons enter the game losers of three of their last four games. That means they are struggling to find wins just like the Bears, losers of six of their last seven games.
On paper, this looks like a game that the Bears should win. However, we have seen games they should have won but ended up with frustrating losses. The Bears need to forget all of that and get it together enough to win this week. They need to balance good play by the offense and just enough defense. Additionally, they have to curtail those penalties that killed them last week.
Here is what to watch for in the game.
Can the Bears overcome a key injury?
The Bears have the best rushing attack in the NFL this season. They have 2,017 yards on the ground, 413 more than the next team. It is what has helped the offense light up the scoreboard.
The rushing attack took a big blow, however. The Bears placed Khalil Herbert, who is 11th in the league in rushing with 643 yards. He suffered a hip injury late in last week’s game against the Lions.
The Bears’ three-headed monster of Herbert, Justin Fields, and David Montgomery has paced the offense. Will the rushing attack continue to succeed without Herbert? Fields and Herbert were the two main cogs. Fields has 749 rushing yards, good for sixth in the league.
Montgomery, who is more of a bruising runner instead of a speedy one, has trouble gaining yards in this offensive system. He runs over defenders rather than outrun them. This is where rookie Trestan Ebner comes in. He runs in a similar way that Fields and Herbert do. He is a speedy runner who fits well in this offense.
The Bears are trying to ease Ebner into the offense, giving him only 18 carries this season. With the other three ahead of them playing well, the coaches haven’t needed him to do much. That changes with Herbert’s injury, though. Ebner will need to step it up so Chicago’s rushing attack continues to succeed.
The Bears need to pressure the quarterback
In the last few weeks, the Bears’ secondary has gotten burned. Many people have criticized the unit for giving up big plays. However, the blame should go directly to the lack of quarterback pressure.
The Bears rank 29th in sacks with 15. That is a change from 2021 when they ranked fourth with 49. Additionally, they rank 23rd in quarterback pressure (20.1 percent). Furthermore, they rank last in quarterback knockdown percentage (4.7 percent).
The defensive backs can cover only for so long. If the defensive front can’t get to the quarterback, then he’ll eventually carve up the secondary. That is what has been happening.
Last week, Lions quarterback Jared Goff had all the time in the world to look for the open man. With that much time, someone will eventually get open. On the final drive that resulted in the game-winning touchdown, the Lions went 91 yards. Goff went 4/5 for 84 yards on that drive.
It isn’t a good sign when your safety has the most sacks on the defense. Jaquan Brisker leads the team with three sacks. He’d be the leader even if you include Roquan Smith and Robert Quinn. The Bears need to find some way to get to the quarterback. If they don’t, it will be another long game for the defense.
Fields should continue to impress
Fields has been incredible for the past month. He has made some incredible plays and record-breaking performances. What makes his play more impressive is that opponents know what is coming for the most part, yet cannot stop it. They know that he is going to run, especially in key moments, yet Fields continues to succeed.
That success should continue against the Falcons. Once again, the Bears face a struggling defense. Atlanta ranks 31st overall. They rank last in passing yards and 21st in passing touchdowns allowed.
Against the run, the Falcons rank 18th in rushing yards but 28th in rushing touchdowns allowed. Despite not having Herbert, Fields will continue to roll. He will have big runs again. He’ll also make some big plays with his arm.
One great thing that has happened in the last three weeks that helped the offense succeed is the inclusion of tight end Cole Kmet. He has five touchdown receptions in his last three games. He has back-to-back games with two touchdown catches. He gives a big target for Fields in the red zone. He is Fields’ security blanket when he cannot find other receivers.
Hopefully, we’ll see Chase Claypool a little more involved. As we saw with Fields, it takes a little while to get offensive coordinator Luke Getsy’s offense down. We saw Fields struggle early in the season before exploding. Maybe Claypool is experiencing the same thing and with more practices under his belt, he’ll be ready to break out this week.
We can hope that last week’s loss gives the Bears more focus on getting a win this week. We saw how they could bounce back after they suffered a similar loss against the Washington Commanders. They came back and beat the New England Patriots. They need another effort like that this week.