Chicago Bears vs. New England Patriots: Complete Week 8 Preview for Chicago
Following a disappointing 27-14 loss to the Miami Dolphins in Week 7, the Chicago Bears will try to rebound this week when they head to New England to take on the 5-2 Patriots.
The Bears and Patriots have met just 12 times, with New England holding an 8-4 all-time record. Chicago last beat New England in 2000 and has lost the last three meetings, including a 36-7 loss back in 2010. New England's Tom Brady threw for 369 yards and two touchdowns that afternoon, while Chicago's Jay Cutler threw for 152 yards and two interceptions.
The Patriots are coming off a 27-25 victory on Thursday Night Football over the New York Jets. Brady threw for 261 yards and three touchdowns, but the Patriots had to rely on a blocked field-goal attempt at the end of the game to seal their victory.
Despite boasting one of the league's best wide receiver duos in Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery, the Bears offense has struggled at times this season to get itself into a rhythm. Patriots head coach Bill Belichick still sees Chicago's wide receiving duo and tight end Martellus Bennett as matchup nightmares.
"Their receivers are big, big catch radius, hard guys to cover, including the tight end," he said, via Kevin Fishbain of ChicagoFootball.com. "Even when you’re on them, you still don’t really have them covered because of their length and their size, there’s places that the quarterback can put the ball that the defender can’t get it, even though he’s got relatively good coverage."
With the Bears now 3-4 in the NFC North division behind the 5-2 Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers, Sunday's contest with the New England Patriots is as close to a must-win game as it gets this early in the NFL season.
Here is our Chicago Bears vs. New England Patriots preview for Week 8.
Chicago Bears' Week 7 Recap
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In the Bears' 24-17 loss to the Miami Dolphins in Week 7, Jay Cutler threw for just 190 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Chicago's offense was unable to get into a rhythm on Sunday afternoon, while Miami's Ryan Tannehill was able to pick apart Chicago's defense.
The Bears sacked Tannehill four times, but he completed 25 of his 32 passes for 277 yards with two touchdowns. In addition to his passing yards, Tannehill also ran the football six times for 48 yards.
Chicago ran the ball just two times in the first half, and running back Matt Forte finished with just 12 carries on the afternoon. Forte was frustrated after the game with his lack of carries.
“You just wait,” Forte said after the game about his lack of carries, via Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times. “It’s just aggravating. You have to wait for stuff to come together. Obviously, you’ve gotta run the ball more in the first half.”
The Bears ran the ball seven times on their opening possession of the second half but abandoned the run after that despite their success.
According to Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com, there were some outbursts in the team's locker room following the game, particularly from wide receiver Brandon Marshall.
"You lose a game and some guys kind of blow their top," defensive end Willie Young said about the locker room situation earlier this week, via Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune. "But it's not about that. It's about resiliency, bouncing back and taking advantage of every opportunity that you have and not forgetting about what's at stake the next nine games."
If Chicago wants to come away with a victory on Sunday against the New England Patriots, it is going to need to bounce back in a big way following its loss to the Dolphins in Week 7.
News and Notes
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Kyle Long Admits He Was Wrong to Blame Fans for Booing
After Chicago's loss to the Dolphins this past Sunday, right guard Kyle Long was not happy with the fans for booing the team's performance, via Adam Hoge of TheGameChicago.com:
"Kyle Long said the booing from fans at home is “unacceptable. Especially when there's not a lot of noise being made on 3rd down.” #Bears
— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) October 19, 2014"
Given some time to think about what he had said, Long backtracked Monday morning, via Chicago Bears radio network sideline reporter Zach Zaidman:
"#Bears RG Kyle Long to @LinBrehmer on @93XRT: "It was wrong for me to point fingers at the fans."
— Zach Zaidman (@ZachZaidman) October 20, 2014"
Luckily for Long, he will not have to worry about playing in front of the home crowd for a while, as the team does not return to Soldier Field again until November 16.
Chicago Doesn't Feel Like It Lacks Leadership
After an outburst this past Sunday by Brandon Marshall following the Bears' loss to the Miami Dolphins, many within the organization came out this week to defend the state of the locker room.
At the start of the season, head coach Marc Trestman opted to have alternating captains each week instead of anointing a set of captains for all 16 games. Not assigning permanent captains is not out of the norm in the NFL. The Green Bay Packers, Atlanta Falcons and others do not designate season-long captains, and Trestman does not believe there is anything wrong with that.
“I don’t think this is unusual,” he said earlier this week, via Adam Hoge of TheGameChicago.com.
He continued:
"We’ve done it both ways, where we’ve elected five captains, which some teams do. Other teams go with weekly captains. After being around this team for 18 months, there certainly a group of guys that I would call decorated veterans that are influential guys on this team, guys that I go to, talk to. But there’s also a lot of guys, more than five guys, who are truly leaders and guys who have the respect of our team and leaders are really visibly seen in their demeanor, in the way they practice, the way they work in meetings, the way they initiate conversation with other players and we have a lot of those guys.
"
With the team struggling on the field, some think the team lacks true leaders in and out of the locker room, but defensive end Jared Allen disagrees.
“I don’t want this to sound bad,” Allen said this week, via John Mullin of CSNChicago.com. “We talk about ‘leader.’ What does that look like to people? I think we have great leaders here. Leaders don’t necessarily have to stand up at the podium and make some big speech."
A win against the Patriots this Sunday will likely quiet the critics who believe the Bears lack leadership, but if they lose, expect the team's leadership or lack thereof to once again be in the spotlight.
Bears Know the Key to Slowing Down Tom Brady Is Pressure
It is no secret that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is one of the best in the NFL. He has thrown 13 touchdowns to just two interceptions this season and has a 96.3 quarterback rating.
The Patriots have lost just two games this season, but in those two losses Brady was sacked six total times. The Bears know the key to slowing Brady down will be putting pressure on him inside the pocket.
“If you keep him off that spot, you keep him uncomfortable in the pocket, you keep him off rhythm,” defensive end Lamarr Houston said, via Kevin Fishbain of ChicagoFootball.com. “You don’t want a good quarterback like that to get comfortable in the pocket because then they’ll start making plays at will.”
Brady is not known for moving around in the pocket, meaning the defensive tackles will be relied upon to crash the pocket up the middle.
“He’s going to stand there until someone gets in front of his face and pressures him. It’ll be a good matchup for us,” defensive tackle Stephen Paea said, via Fishbain.
If the Bears can get pressure up the middle and force Brady to get rid of the football quickly, they may be able to force Brady into making some bad decisions.
Injury Report
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| Kyle Fuller | CB | Limited |
| Danny McCray | FS | Did Not Practice(DNP) |
| Chris Williams | WR/KR | DNP |
| Lance Briggs | LB | Limited |
| Jon Bostic | LB | Limited |
| Martellus Bennett | TE | Limited |
| Jordan Mills | OT | Limited |
| Jared Allen | DE | DNP |
All injury statuses from Adam Hoge of TheGameChicago.com and reflect Thursday's practice.
After suffering a hip injury and a broken hand against the Miami Dolphins in Week 7, Kyle Fuller's status for this Sunday is still up in the air.
If Fuller is unable to go, veteran Sherrick McManis will likely take over his spot. Cornerback Tim Jennings feels comfortable with McManis' starting if Fuller is unable to go.
“He’s going to bring some tenacity,” Jennings said about McManis, via Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune. “Sherrick, he’s a guy that’s hungry for that football, so he’s a guy that’ll create turnovers. He has a knack for punching the ball out. He has been playing great for us. He had a great camp.”
Linebackers Lance Briggs and Jon Bostic both returned to practice this week in a limited capacity. Both have missed the last two games.
If Briggs is unable to play Sunday, Khaseem Greene will likely start his third straight game at weak-side linebacker.
Defensive end Jared Allen missed practice on Thursday, but the team said it was not injury-related, via Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune.
Tight end Martellus Bennett returned to the practice field on Thursday in a limited capacity after missing Wednesday's practice.
Offensive tackle Jordan Mills was limited, while safety Danny McCray and kick returner Chris Williams did not practice.
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X-Factors and Matchups to Watch
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Tom Brady vs. Chicago's Secondary
In a league filled with elite quarterbacks, New England's Tom Brady is near the top of the list. He is a three-time Super Bowl champion, two-time NFL MVP and two-time Super Bowl MVP.
Brady has already thrown for 1,705 yards with 13 touchdowns and just two interceptions this season.
“He’s a Hall of Fame quarterback and he does everything right all the time,” Bears defensive coordinator Mel Tucker said, via Larry Mayer of ChicagoBears.com.
While the team is going to do its best to put pressure on Brady in the pocket, it ultimately will come down to Chicago's secondary on Sunday afternoon.
Despite not having an elite wide receiving corps, Brady has made players like Julian Edelman and Brandon LaFell into legitimate receiving options.
Edelman leads the team with 44 catches for 453 yards with one touchdown, while LaFell has become a big-play target down the field with 19 catches for 337 yards and three touchdowns.
Tim Jennings is a guarantee to start at one of the cornerback position, while the other spot is up in the air with Kyle Fuller still recovering from both a hip and hand injury. Regardless of whether Fuller or Sherrick McManis starts opposite of Jennings, Brady will likely go after them early until they can prove they can slow down the passing game.
Back at the safety position, Chris Conte and Ryan Mundy will likely face the difficult task of trying to slow down tight end Rob Gronkowski.
Gronkowski has 31 catches for 409 yards and four touchdowns this year, and backup free safety Danny McCray knows it will be difficult to slow him down.
“Really the mindset is to go out and compete,” said McCray, via Arthur Arkush of ChicagoFootball.com. “Try not to give him anything easy. Try and make him work for everything. He’s a big guy, he runs a lot of routes and he knows how to go up and get the ball. So you try and slow that down and knock the rhythm off and just compete with him, and see where it goes from there.”
Even though the majority of his receiving options lack "star power," Brady has made a living by feeding off opposing secondaries. What makes Brady so special is his ability to get rid of the football quickly and to put the football where only his receivers can make the catch.
He rarely makes mistakes, throwing just 13 interceptions since the start of last season, but if the Bears cornerbacks can play stellar coverage all afternoon, they have a shot at slowing Brady down.
Shane Vereen vs. Lamarr Houston
Following a season-ending injury to running back Stevan Ridley in Week 6, Shane Vereen has now assumed the starting tailback role for the Patriots.
The older brother of Bears rookie Brock Vereen, Shane Vereen has carried the football 53 times this season for 259 yards with one touchdown. A solid running back between the tackles, Vereen has also excelled when catching the football. He has 23 catches this season for 185 yards, including five catches for 71 yards and two touchdowns last week against the New York Jets.
While Chicago's linebackers will be in charge of slowing down Vereen in the passing game, defensive end Lamarr Houston will shoulder some of the responsibility in trying to slow Vereen down on the ground.
Houston has struggled at times this season, particularly against the run. According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Houston has an overall plus-3.3 grade on the season but has a minus-1.0 grade against the run. He has just seven tackles this season.
Houston has struggled this year on misdirection plays, often reacting too quickly before reading what the running back is going to do. If he can maintain his gap integrity and fight his way through the offensive line, he has enough speed to slow down Vereen if he makes it to the outside.
The Patriots will have no problem throwing the football all afternoon if their running game struggles. So if Houston can help keep Vereen at bay in the running game, he may have more opportunities to rush Brady if the Patriots are forced to throw the football.
Bears' X-Factor of the Week: Jay Cutler
After his poor outing this past Sunday, Jay Cutler may be the most obvious "X-Factor of the Week" this year. The team has struggled this season when Cutler has thrown interceptions, going 0-4 in games he has thrown one or more interceptions, while going 3-0 in games in which he did not turn the football over.
In the team's three victories this season, Cutler has thrown seven touchdowns, including four against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 2.
Cutler starts to get in trouble when he forces the issue, particularly when relying too much on his strong arm to fit the football through a tight window when his receiver is in double coverage.
Against Atlanta in Week 6, Cutler may have played his best game of the season. Instead of pushing the issue and trying to force throws that were not there, he was willing to dump the football off to running back Matt Forte when receivers Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery were not open down the field.
If Cutler can play like he did against Atlanta against New England this Sunday, the Bears have a chance of coming out of New England with a victory, but if he plays like he did in Week 7 against the Miami Dolphins, he and the Bears may be in for a long afternoon.
Prediction
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After the Bears' loss to the Miami Dolphins in Week 7, it has become increasingly more difficult to get a good read on this team.
They've shown flashes of what they can do on offense and defense at various times this season, but they have not been able to play with any consistency on both sides of the football for an extended period of time.
Even with New England's defense decimated by injuries with guys like Jerod Mayo and Chandler Jones out for Sunday's game, it is hard to have much confidence in the Bears offense, considering how it's struggled to find consistency this season.
The Bears are averaging just 22.4 points per game, 18th-best in the league, after finishing second in the league last year with 27.8 points per game. In the team's four losses this season it is averaging just 18.8 points per game.
On the other side of the ball, Chicago's defense will have to square off against one of the league's best quarterbacks in Tom Brady.
The Patriots currently average 26.7 points per game, seventh best in the league, and Brady has finally started to get himself into a groove with wide receivers Julian Edelman and Brandon LaFell after a slow start to the season.
If Chicago can control the running game and keep Tom Brady off the field, it has a chance at winning this football game. But considering how Chicago's offense has sputtered at time in recent weeks, the Patriots defense may be able to do just enough to keep the Bears from outscoring Brady and New England's offense.
Prediction: Bears 21, Patriots 34
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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