Intriguing Game- Week Seven
New England Patriots at Chicago Bears
Patriots: And again, I ask you, what struggles again? After that loss to the Detroit Lions in week three, they’ve done what they do best and no team is better at bouncing back and getting on track better than the New England Patriots. They’ve won their last three games and have reclaimed their first place spot in the AFC East once again. This football team just knows how to truly regroup and fix the issues they have and they just keep it moving. I have absolutely no problem with their offense and after what I saw in their big win against the Kansas City Chiefs, every team remaining on their schedule should be aware of them and the many ways they’re able to move the football down the field. I love how Sony Michel has become more acclimated to the offense because in the beginning, he was shaky and he had a hard time holding onto the football which is typical for a rookie. As of late, he’s been given the ball more and has made something happen with it and my thing is when New England runs the football, they’re an even scarier team and they’ll keep pounding the football in between the tackles until you can do something to stop it. This is simply how they gameplan. If you have a secondary that struggles to defend the pass, what will they do? Brady will spread his receivers out and attack which is easy for a 19-year veteran to do considering he’s seen just about every look and coverage imaginable. If you can’t stop the run, they’ll rack up their yards in the ground game. I’m concerned about their defense of course because of the lack of a pass rush outside of Trey Flowers and they’ve learned that their pass rushing struggles will put more pressure on the secondary to be outstanding in coverage. They’ll look for their fourth win in a row on Sunday with a trip to the Windy City.
Bears: They have been one of the talks early on of the season and of course, for all the right reasons. Let’s take it back to Labor Day weekend when the Chicago Bears made a move that shocked us all and that was the acquisition of all-pro defensive end, Khalil Mack from the Oakland Raiders and after the trade, they made him the highest-paid defensive player in the league a day after the Los Angeles Rams gave Aaron Donald a large contract. So far, the move has paid off and Khalil has made the Bears a strong defense once again, something we haven’t seen since the days of Brian Urlacher. I’ve seen a lot of Bears football over the years and the one thing I took away from the Marc Trestman and John Fox era’s was guys seemed as if they didn’t want to play for either one of those guys. I saw no enthusiasm and sometimes, no effort at times. With Matt Nagy, it’s different. The offense has been more potent which I expected it would considering that Matt is an offensive minded guy and he’s really trying to turn Mitchell Tribusky into a solid quarterback. I can definitely say it’s been a work in progress, but he’s shown that he can fling the football all over the field. Look at the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He went off and torched them and threw six touchdown passes in a dominating win before their bye week. When I saw their game in Miami last Sunday, it had trap game written all over it and that was a game they should’ve won because they did enough to win that game, but when you don’t hit your field goals in crucial moments, you deserve to lose. Despite the loss on Sunday in Florida, the Bears are in first place in the NFC North and let me ask you: Who would’ve imagined after six weeks of NFL football that the Chicago Bears would be atop the division that consists of Aaron Rodgers and the Minnesota Vikings, a team who just made the NFC title game last season. They will look to get back into the win column in a big game on Sunday.
Patriots Player To Watch– Chris Hogan: When the Patriots signed him, I loved the move because of the additional depth he adds and he’s been a nice weapon for 12 on this offense. He can play wide as your typical receiver, but I feel he does his best work in the slot. He’s Brady’s fifth weapon behind Gronkowski, Edelman, Gordon and James White.
Bears Player To Watch– Akiem Hicks: We hear about Khalil Mack being such a disruptive force within the front seven. Akiem can get after people as well. He can shut down the run, he can come in and collapse the quarterback’s pocket and to beat the Patriots, you need to be able to pressure Brady and not give him any time to throw the football.
Final Analysis: This is a big game for both teams. The Patriots two losses have both come on the road this year and the Bears are undefeated at Solider Field. I see the Bears using Taylor Gabriel early on to attack the New England secondary. If you watched the game against Kansas City on Sunday night, they were able to buy time and get the ball to Tyreek Hill down the field. Wherever Khalil is lined up on the field, please believe you will see an additional blocker in his area. If the Bears don’t apply any type of pressure on Brady, it’ll be a really long day at the office for them.
Prediction: Patriots 24 Bears 17
