Miami Dolphins vs. Chicago Bears: Complete Week 7 Preview for Chicago
Faced with the possibility of dropping to 2-4 on the season with a loss in Week 6, the Chicago Bears battled hard for a 27-13 road victory over the Atlanta Falcons to remain in the playoff hunt within the NFC North.
The 3-3 Bears currently sit in third place behind the division-leading Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers, both of which are 4-2. Chicago will now turn its attention to the Miami Dolphins, who will be traveling to Soldier Field in Week 7.
The Bears and Dolphins have met 11 times in the past with the Dolphins holding a 7-4 record in the all-time series. The two teams last squared off on Thursday Night Football back in 2010 with the Bears coming away with a 16-0 victory.
The Dolphins are coming off a 27-24 loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 6, dropping their record to 2-3 on the season.
Quarterback Ryan Tannehill threw for 244 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, but Aaron Rodgers and company were too much for the Dolphins defense to handle down the stretch. The Packers went 60 yards on 11 plays to score the game-winning touchdown with just three seconds remaining on the clock.
Despite their performance at the end of Sunday's game, Miami's defense has been among the league's best so far this season. They are currently seventh in the league in total defense, allowing 331.6 yards per game and have sacked opposing quarterbacks 14 times this season.
With a showdown against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots looming in Week 8, the Chicago Bears cannot look past this talented, young Miami team.
Here is our Miami Dolphins vs. Chicago Bears preview for Week 7.
Chicago Bears Week 6 Recap
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Needing a win to get back to .500, the Chicago Bears came away with 27-13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons in Week 6 despite being without their top four linebackers.
With Lance Briggs, D.J. Williams, Jon Bostic and Shea McClellin all ruled out of Sunday's game due to injury, Khaseem Greene, Darryl Sharpton and Christian Jones all made their first starts of the season against the Falcons.
Greene and Sharpton were both in the starting lineup for the first time since 2013, while Jones, an undrafted rookie out of Florida State, made his first career start.
Greene finished the game as the team's leading tackler with eight on the afternoon, while Sharpton finished with five tackles and Jones finished with four.
The Bears defense as a whole held the high-powered Falcons attack to just 287 total yards.
On the other side of the football, Chicago's offense had one of its most productive games of the season. Quarterback Jay Cutler completed over 68 percent of his passes and finished with a season-high 381 passing yards.
Running back Matt Forte proved once again he is one of the league's most versatile running backs, rushing for 80 yards on 17 carries with two touchdowns and catching 10 passes for 77 yards.
If the Bears can play a complete game against the Miami Dolphins in Week 7 like they did in Week 6 against the Falcons, they have a good chance to improve to 4-3 on the season.
News and Notes
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Stephen Paea Is Quietly Having a Career Year
Much of the focus this season along the defensive line has been placed on Willie Young and his league-leading seven sacks, but defensive tackle Stephen Paea is quietly having a career season.
A second-round pick of the Bears back in 2011, Paea's four sacks in six games are a career high. Prior to 2014, Paea tallied just six total sacks.
According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Paea has a 0.6 overall grade on the season but has a far more impressive 6.0 pass-rush grade.
“[Paea is] just doing a very good job of getting on the edge and disrupting and moving the pocket,” head coach Marc Trestman said about the lineman's performance this season, via ChicagoFootball.com's Arthur Arkush.
The team drafted defensive tackles Ego Ferguson and Will Sutton this past May to compete with Paea, but his strong performance through the team's first six games has helped him become one of the team's unsung heroes along the defensive line.
Bears Are Trying to Protect Matt Forte
Running back Matt Forte has been a jack-of-all-trades for the Bears since he was drafted in the second round of the 2008 draft.
Forte is currently seventh in the NFL in rushing with 399 yards, leads the league in receptions with 46 and has three total touchdowns on the year.
Part of the reason Forte has put up such big numbers is because of how often he is on the field. According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), his 391 snaps this season are the most in the NFL among running backs, 52 more than the Dallas Cowboys' DeMarco Murray.
“He takes a lot of hits during the course of the game, more than anybody because of all the touches that he has,” head coach Marc Trestman said on Wednesday, via Adam Hoge of TheGameChicago.com.
Forte was held out of practice on Wednesday for the second week in a row to help keep him fresher, via Chicago Bears radio network sideline reporter Zach Zaidman:
"Trestman says he held Forte out of practice today, just like last week, because Forte takes a lot of hits during games.
— Zach Zaidman (@ZachZaidman) October 15, 2014"
The Bears have recently been trying to limit Forte's workload during the week and are trying to find ways to keep him fresher come game time.
“We’re working on that,” Trestman said Wednesday, via Dan Durkin of 670TheScore.com. “We did that today, we did that last week. The data, he takes a lot of hits during the course of the game, more than anybody because of all the touches he has."
While sitting Forte out one practice a week certainly won't hurt, the team would be wise to find more opportunities for rookie Ka'Deem Carey on game day. Forte's 391 snaps account for 92 percent of the team's snaps this season, leaving Carey with just 46 snaps this season.
If Trestman is serious about limiting Forte's wear and tear, it might be time to utilize Carey with more frequency on Sundays.
Injury Report
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| Jordan Mills | OT | Probable |
| Chris Conte | FS | Out |
| D.J. Williams | LB | Probable |
| Lance Briggs | LB | Out |
| Jon Bostic | LB | Questionable |
| Ahmad Dixon | SS | Probable |
All injury statuses from Larry Mayer of ChicagoBears.com.
After missing the Week 6 contest against the Atlanta Falcons due to a rib injury, Lance Briggs' status for this Sunday remains up in the air after not practicing again on Thursday afternoon. If Briggs is unable to play, expect Khaseem Greene to get his second straight start at the weak-side linebacker position against Miami.
Chris Conte injured his shoulder against the Falcons and was held out of practice on Thursday. As long as Conte is healthy, head coach Marc Trestman plans on keeping him as the starter at free safety.
“He’s our starter until the doctors and trainers…or he feels uncomfortable playing. That hasn’t been the case,” Trestman said Monday about Conte, via Jeff Dickerson of ESPNChicago.com.
If Conte is not cleared for Sunday's contest, expect both Danny McCray and Brock Vereen to get playing time at free safety.
Linebackers D.J. Williams and Jon Bostic, offensive tackle Jordan Mills and safety Ahmad Dixon were all limited on Thursday afternoon.
If Williams and/or Bostic are unable to go this Sunday, expect rookie Christian Jones and veteran Darryl Sharpton to get playing time against the Dolphins. Strong-side linebacker Shea McClellin returned to practice this week and will likely start.
Mills was limited this week with a foot injury, via Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times. If he is unable to go, expect Michael Ola to start at right tackle, his third different position along the offensive line this season.
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X-Factors and Matchups to Watch
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Matt Slauson vs. Jared Odrick
After missing a handful of starts following an ankle injury suffered in Week 1 against the Buffalo Bills, left guard Matt Slauson finally returned to the starting lineup in Week 5 against the Carolina Panthers.
He struggled a bit against the Bills and the Panthers, allowing a sack in both games, but he played arguably his best game of the season in Week 6 against the Falcons.
This Sunday he faces the difficult task of taking on Miami defensive tackle Jared Odrick.
The 28th overall pick of the Dolphins back in 2010, Odrick has finally started to come into his own this season. He currently has nine tackles, one sack, one forced fumble and has been a force against the run.
After studying the film, SI.com's Andy Benoit came away impressed by Odrick's play against the Green Bay Packers in Week 6:
"#Dolphins Film: Odrick a real menace vs. run. Strength to fight or sustain vs. double-teams.
— Andy Benoit (@Andy_Benoit) October 14, 2014"
Odrick told the media earlier this week the team's game plan against Chicago is going to be simple.
"Stop the run. Get after the quarterback," he said, via the team's official Twitter page.
What makes Odrick so difficult to stop is he can beat offensive lineman with his speed, his strength or a combination of the two.
After finally looking like his old self after two subpar starts, Slauson is going to have his hands full this Sunday trying to keep Odrick from tackling Matt Forte and sacking Jay Cutler.
Demontre Hurst vs. Jarvis Landry
Part of Chicago's never-ending roster shuffle, cornerback Demontre Hurst has bounced back and forth between the team's practice squad and 53-man roster this season.
After playing mostly on special teams in his first four games this season, Hurst took over the nickelback role on defense in Week 6 against the Falcons.
According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), he played 39 snaps against Atlanta, giving up four catches for 66 yards, but he helped seal the team's victory with a late interception.
Head coach Marc Trestman was quick to praise Hurst's intelligence earlier this week, via the team's official Twitter account:
"Trestman on new #Bears nickel back Demontre Hurst: "He's a very smart player. In practice he's always around the football."
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) October 13, 2014"
Hurst will likely get the nod again this week covering the slot and should see plenty of Miami's Jarvis Landry.
A second-round pick this past May out of LSU, Landry has 18 catches for 186 yards and one touchdown. His most productive outing of the season was against the Green Bay Packers in Week 6, when he hauled in six catches for 75 yards and scored his first career touchdown.
According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Landry has played in the slot more than any other Dolphins receiver this season. He has 16 targets on 68 routes with 12 catches for 139 yards.
Landry does not possess top-end speed, but his ability to run precise routes is what makes him so difficult to defend. If Hurst can jam him at the line of scrimmage and alter his route just a little bit, he has a chance to slow down the Dolphins' emerging receiving threat.
Bears' X-Factor of the Week: Alshon Jeffery
Despite suffering a hamstring injury against the Buffalo Bills in Week 1, Alshon Jeffery has been one of quarterback Jay Cutler's most dependable targets this season.
After accumulating 262 yards and one touchdown on 20 catches in the team's first four games, Jeffery has hauled in 11 catches for 233 yards with one touchdown the past two weeks.
Jeffery was most known for his big-play ability in his breakout sophomore campaign last season, as he averaged 16 yards per catch. After putting up 13.1 yards per catch in the team's first four games, he has averaged over 21 yards per catch in the last two.
It will get a little tougher for Jeffery this week against a Dolphins defense that is currently eighth in the league versus the pass, giving up just 221.6 yards per game through the air. Miami is also allowing the fewest number of yards per catch this season (10.1) and has allowed just 14 passing plays of 20 or more yards, fourth best in the NFL.
Standing in Jeffery's way this week will be a pair of talented veteran cornerbacks in Cortland Finnegan and Brent Grimes.
Jeffery's biggest advantage will be his 6'3" frame against the smaller Finnegan and Grimes, both of whom are 5'10". If the Dolphins opt to give one of the cornerbacks safety help to cover Brandon Marshall on the other side of the field, Jeffery should have ample opportunities to make a big play.
Prediction
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After struggling to close out games the previous two weeks, Chicago's offense was finally able to finish strong against the Falcons in Week 6. The team scored just six total points in the second half against Green Bay and Carolina but put 14 points on the board in the final two quarters against Atlanta.
"We played a complete game offensively,” head coach Marc Trestman said after the team's victory over Atlanta, via Dan Durkin of 670TheScore.com. “It wasn’t perfect at the start. We had a couple of field goals, we did get the touchdown. They (Atlanta) got points in the second half, and we were able to come back and get two touchdowns in the second half, I think on a long field to my recollection."
The Bears were willing to push the ball both on the ground and through the air, rushing 29 times for 103 yards and throwing 38 times for 375 yards.
"I thought as an offense we played our best games in terms of playing a complete game,” Trestman said, via Durkin.
In order to beat the Miami Dolphins this Sunday, the Bears will need to play another complete game like they did against Atlanta.
The Dolphins have been terrific on defense this year, allowing just 331.6 total yards per game, good enough for seventh best in the NFL. On the other side of the football, the offense is currently averaging 353.2 yards per game, 16th best in the NFL.
Miami's offense has been at its best this season when running the football. Through the Dolphins' first five games, they are averaging 136.2 yards per game on the ground. Luckily for the Bears, their run defense has improved from dead last in the league last year to 10th best this year, as they are giving up just 103.7 yards per game.
If Chicago's run defense can keep Miami's running game in check, and if the offense can build off its strong performance from last Sunday, the Bears have a real shot of registering their first win at home this season.
Prediction: Bears 30, Dolphins 20
Record/statistical information provided via email from the Chicago Bears or NFL.com.
Matt Eurich is an NFL/Chicago Bears Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and a member of the Pro Football Writers of America.
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