Posted on October 19, 2018, by Travis Pulver
For much of the last couple decades, one of the last things you would ever consider is the Chicago Bears could beat the New England Patriots. It wouldn’t matter if the game were in Foxboro or Soldier Field. The Patriots have been the vastly superior team compared to the Bears. But that may not be the case this season.
The Bears are 3-2 heading into Sunday’s game against the Patriots at Soldier Field and 2-0 at home. New England appears to have gotten past its sluggish start and is now 4-2. But they have yet to win a game on the road.
Via @PatriotsLife
Will this be the week the Patriots do just that? Or will the Bears show that they can run with the big dogs and take Tom Brady and company down?
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The Debate
The excitement was high for the Bears following their big win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a couple of weeks ago. With the addition of Khalil Mack, the defense has gone from being a good one to one of the best in the NFL. Should the Bears be able to produce at a similar offensive clip going forward as they did against the Buccaneers, they’d become a very dangerous team indeed.
Then in the first half against the Dolphins last week, it appeared as if that offensive explosion was the exception and not the rule. The offensive was tepid in the first half and ineffective. But then in the second half, they came alive for 28 points (but the defense wasn’t able to hold the lead in the fourth quarter and gave up 15 points).
New England will enter the game riding a three-game winning streak including a 43-40 win over the previously undefeated Kansas City Chiefs. Brady and the offense seem to be getting on track having scored 38, 38, and 43 points during their win streak. But they did so going up against the 17th(Miami), 27th (Kansas City), and 30th ranked defenses (Indianapolis) in the NFL (points per game allowed).
Chicago is ranked fourth in the same category and third in total yards allowed.
But Brady has made a career out of beating up the best defenses in the league. With Josh Gordon, Julian Edelman, Rob Gronkowski leading the passing game and Sony Michel and James White doing damage coming out of the backfield, what’s to say they can’t humble the Bears defense?
The Prediction
Brady and the Patriots offense are going to come back down to Earth a little this week. They will still have some success because they are very good at what they do. But they are not going to score at will as they have been. The question, however, is whether Mitchell Trubisky can get the Bears offense rolling against the Patriots D.
New England slowed down the mighty Chiefs offense, but only for a half. They limited Miami’s offense, but Andrew Luck threw for 365 yards and three touchdowns against them. Not to say Trubisky is as good as Andrew Luck is, but he is healthier and has a much better supporting cast.
His cast is nothing like that of the Chiefs, but it will not need to be.
No one would fault you for taking the Patriots straight up or against the spread (-3). But if you don’t mind the risk, go with the Bears (SU or ATS). If they don’t win, it would not be shocking for them to lose by less than three.