Chicago Bears: What You Need to Know Heading into Week 10

Time is running out for the Chicago Bears.

Sitting at 3-5 with eight games to play, the Bears will need to win seven of the final eight games just to be in the conversation of playoff teams. As the Arizona Cardinals learned last season, having 10 wins doesn’t necessarily get you into the dance. Attaining 10 wins seems like an awfully daunting task for Chicago anyway.

As head coach Marc Trestman said last week, "I think the No. 1 thing we've got going for us right now is we're into the bye...''

The coach isn’t wrong, either. The bye week came at the best possible time for the Bears. Taking time away from football is something this team needed. The ugly losses, the rumored in-fighting, the reports of a leadership void, the accounts of a head coach in turmoil—that’s enough to destroy a team.

That’s why Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers is a must-win for the Trestman-led Bears. If the Bears go to Lambeau Field and lose badly, you can kiss the rest of the season goodbye. It’ll all be over, folks. The Bears would have to win out just to hit 10 victories. Sadly, this Bears team couldn’t win its way out of a wet paper bag.

So that’s why the Bears must—always—beat the Packers. Always beat the Packers!

Talking about beating the Packers and actually going out and beating them are two different things. Your Bears-Packers game preview with be out Thursday, but for now, let’s do a quick roundup of a few things you need to know heading into Week 10.

The Offensive Line Shuffle

Steven Senne/Associated Press

The Bears could have two familiar faces in two new positions on the offensive line come Sunday against the Packers. Trestman and offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer are trying some new things.

Jordan Mills is the front-runner to take Matt Slauson’s spot at left guard. Slauson is out for the season after suffering a torn right pectoral muscle in the Week 8 loss to New England.

Mills practiced Monday at left guard for the first time.

“My team needs me to play a [new] position, and I’m going to do it,” Mills said, via Larry Mayer of ChicagoBears.com. “It’s not about me. It’s about the team. So whatever I have to do to help the team I will do it.”

All 23 of Mills’ professional starts have come at right tackle. Moving to the left side, in a new position, with new personnel next to him on each side, could be a daunting task.

Mills has struggled this season, grading out as one of the worst right tackles in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). So if he were to move, the Bears really wouldn’t be missing all that much.

Taking Mills’ spot at right tackle likely will be Michael Ola.

Ola has started six games at three different positions this season—three at left guard, two at left tackle and one at right tackle.

Based on where Ola has played this season, you’d think he’d be the logical candidate to take Slauson’s spot in the starting lineup. Ola replaced Slauson after he injured his ankle in the Week 1 loss to Buffalo and started the next three games in Slauson’s place.

No matter where Ola has played this season, he’s been very, very good. Ola holds a positive PFF grade in both run blocking and pass protection. There only are 10 guards in the league who hold positive grades in both PFF categories.

Trestman talked Monday about the line shuffling, via ChicagoBears.com:

"

[Ola] is starting to get comfortable in that position. We haven’t locked in anything. We did work Jordan at guard...and thought it went well for the first time around. He’s a versatile athlete. He’s got strong hands. He’s obviously a large man, and again the integrity of the pocket is so important having a man of that size to be able to hold it down is something we want to look into, so that’s where we are today.

"

Nothing is set in stone, but it’s looking like there will be a few changes come Sunday. Trestman wouldn’t be wasting valuable practice time on trying guys out in new positions if the plan wasn't already in motion.

Cutler Could Be on the Move?

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Don’t get too excited: Cutler still is your quarterback. He’s just going to be moving around a little bit more now.

Trestman talked Monday about possibly moving Cutler around a bit more in the pocket in order to allow the quarterback to use his athleticism to keep plays alive and give his receivers more time to find holes in the secondary.

“We’ve talked about all of that over the bye week, and how we can do some different things for him to help him,” Trestman said, via Michael C. Wright of ESPNChicago.com. “We’ll continue to work on that and see how that goes in the second half.”

The adjustment shouldn’t be too much of an issue for Cutler, as he’s the second-rated quarterback in terms of completion percentage when facing pressure, according to PFF. Cutler has completed 43 of 70 passes (61.4 percent) with six touchdowns and one interception when under duress. Only Ben Roethlisberger (68.1 percent) grades out better than Cutler.

The Bears quarterback attempted 61 percent of his passes (150 of 179 with nine TDs and two INTs) either behind the line of scrimmage or within nine yards of it in the first eight games of the season.

Much has been made of how heavily the Bears have been relying on a dink-and-dunk brand of football. Moving Cutler around in the pocket should, in theory, open things up, allowing a guy like Alshon Jeffery to work downfield.

The Bears Win on the Road but Not in the Morning? What?

Kiichiro Sato/Associated Press

A home game in the early time slot is not the Bears' bread and butter.

Not only do the Bears not like to win at home in 2014, but Trestman and Co. also don’t like the early time slot.

The Bears have lost all three of their home games this season but have found a way to win three on the road. Makes a lot of sense, right?

Let’s take it a step further.

The Bears are 0-5 when kickoff takes place at noon CST but are 3-0 in the late time slot (one) and prime-time games (two). The late-afternoon win came in Week 6 against the Atlanta Falcons, and the two prime-time wins came in Weeks 2 and 3, when the Bears defeated the San Francisco 49ers and New York Jets, respectively.

Given this game is a must-win for the Bears, it’s a good thing it’s on the road and late in the day—Sunday Night Football, to be specific.