Heading into the Windy City, one would expect the weather to come into play. Looking at the gametime weather forecast for both Chicago and Foxborough, things couldn’t be more similar- high 40’s and wind up to 12 mph.
With weather really not benefiting either team, the fact that the Bears are 2-0 at home while the Patriots are 0-2 should obviously favor the Bears. While this is partially true, I don’t think it really means that much. Sure, it’s been a while since the Patriots have been heading into Halloween without a road victory. Of course if you look back at both losses, there was more at play than being on the road. To say that the offense wasn’t manned completely would be part of the equation. In Jacksonville the extreme temperature absolutely had an effect on the outcome. When the Patriots got their butts handed to them by the Lions the obvious x-factor was Matt Patricia knowing the weakness of every Patriot player and coach.
Enough about the weather and why playing in Chicago won’t be a huge factor, what do the Pats need to do to win without Gronk?
SCORE FIRST- Like I said last week, if the Patriots win the coin toss they need to take the ball and go down the field for 7 points. Whether it is a quick strike or a drawn out moving of the chains, I don’t really care. Now, scoring a touchdown on their first possession will not be an easy task. In their first 5 games the Bears have only allowed one touchdown. The rest of the possessions have all resulted in opponents punting.
SCORE FIRST- Like I said last week, if the Patriots win the coin toss they need to take the ball and go down the field for 7 points. Whether it is a quick strike or a drawn out moving of the chains, I don’t really care. Now, scoring a touchdown on their first possession will not be an easy task. In their first 5 games the Bears have only allowed one touchdown. The rest of the possessions have all resulted in opponents punting.
STOP THE BEARS ON FIRST POSSESSIONS OF EACH HALF- The Bears have a pretty solid defense and a low scoring offense. As a team they have 14 total touchdowns. 5 of those touchdowns have come during first possessions of a half.
PROTECT BRADY- After 6 games Brady has only been sacked 8 times. In 5 games the Bears have tallied 18 sacks. Something has to give today. I’m obviously hoping that the protection of Brady as well as his experience with avoiding sacks wins out. Since just last week he had a boneheaded play where he held onto the ball for way too long, I don’t expect that to happen this week. If he does happen to get thrown like a rag doll and get a flag, don’t fall for the Brady always gets the call crap. He’s only earned 1 roughing the passer call while Trubisky has earned 5. Defensively, neither team has been deemed as being too rough with their opponents. The Patriots have yet to be called with roughing the passer this season and the Bears have only been called once.
Although the Bears defense has been pretty stout, the fact that Khalil Mack and Bryce Callahan are not at 100% should make things a bit easier for the Patriots offense.
PROTECT BRADY- After 6 games Brady has only been sacked 8 times. In 5 games the Bears have tallied 18 sacks. Something has to give today. I’m obviously hoping that the protection of Brady as well as his experience with avoiding sacks wins out. Since just last week he had a boneheaded play where he held onto the ball for way too long, I don’t expect that to happen this week. If he does happen to get thrown like a rag doll and get a flag, don’t fall for the Brady always gets the call crap. He’s only earned 1 roughing the passer call while Trubisky has earned 5. Defensively, neither team has been deemed as being too rough with their opponents. The Patriots have yet to be called with roughing the passer this season and the Bears have only been called once.
Although the Bears defense has been pretty stout, the fact that Khalil Mack and Bryce Callahan are not at 100% should make things a bit easier for the Patriots offense.
SPECIAL TEAMS- Well, it appears that an NFL rule designed to make kickoffs safer (read: take away Patriots advantage) appears to be working as planned so far. I’m thinking and hoping that all changes this weekend. Unlike the Chiefs, the Bears aren’t very good at returning kicks. Maybe it’s because they don’t have the speed which causes officials to miss some pretty blatant blocks in the back, or maybe it’s something else. Either way, the Patriots have a more solid special teams unit than the Bears, and need to use that to their advantage.
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