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Bears Game Day Live: Bold Predictions for Bears-Patriots
Kickoff is coming quick. Cassie, Lou and Anthony give their bold predictions for the Bears' home game against New England on Sunday.
CHICAGO - It was a dreadful and dreary day for the Chicago Bears.
In one of the most dismal performances in recent memory, the Bears were stymied by the 2-7 New England Patriots. The offense was unsalvageable and the defense could not save the Bears this time.
Coming into Sunday, the Bears had one of the league’s best home winning streaks. That’s no more. The Bears are 4-5.
Here are our takeaways from the Bears’ miserable, no good and awful loss to the Patriots.
TJ Edwards keeps proving he's a star on the defense
Every week, the Bears' linebacker group finds a way to prove how talented they are. Against New England, Edwards intercepted a pass and was everywhere.
When the Bears needed a tackle, they could look to Edwards.
Furthermore, Edwards is starting to become the best free agency signing general manager Ryan Poles has made in his tenure as the Bears’ GM.
The Bears have been yearning for stalwart linebackers since the likes of Lance Briggs and Brian Urlacher left. Roquan Smith was a great player, but even he didn’t survive the rebuild of 2022.
Edwards is now becoming a fixture on a team that has a great defense. Alongside Tremaine Edmunds, the Bears have two dependable players in the middle. Edwards is arguably the most dependable player on the defense.
The Bears could not find an answer on offense
It was already a struggle coming into Sunday.
The Bears offense, against the 2-7 Patriots, mustered one sustained drive against New England that went for points.
The Bears went into halftime with 17 consecutive drives without a touchdown. The Bears added three more drives to that number at the end of the third quarter.
From where things stand, there’s no answer.
The Bears waited through the first half before they targeted Cole Kmet. DJ Moore was not targeted vertically. Chicago had 122 yards of total offense heading into the fourth quarter.
The only hope on Sunday were the two other phases of the game for the Bears. The defense, as talented as it is, could not force a second half turnover. The special teams could not find magic in a bottle like it did against Tennessee.
What makes this regression so shocking is the Bears did find success against bad teams in the past. The Panthers and Jaguars allowed the Bears to throw all over them.
This was as bad as it could possibly have been.
Every time the Bears took a step forward, they took two steps back. False starts plagued the Bears. Too many mistakes would’ve hindered the Bears had they found a way to sustain any offense.
Pass blocking is needed
The Bears are playing behind a broken offensive line. Darnell Wright and Braxton Jones were hurt heading into Sunday. Starting left guard Teven Jenkins left the game with an ankle injury and was ruled out.
The Patriots, one of the worst teams in the NFL when it comes enacting a pass rush, had nine sacks on the day.
There were times where the Patriots threw blitzes at the Bears. The Bears had no answer for the pressure. It was consistent and the was no adjustment to stop it.
When the Patriots send corner blitzes, it was a perfect attack on the Bears’ defense which utilized drop backs with as little protection as possible. And when the Bears did add extra protection, that didn’t help at all.
All of this sets up a game next week against the Green Bay Packers at home where the Bears need to win or else their season might teeter on going well below .500.