NFL Week 7: New England Patriots vs. Chicago Bears

by
Former Writers
October 19, 2018

Mike via Flickr

The Patriots Travel To The Midwest To Face The Bears

An interesting matchup is set to take place at 1 p.m. on Sunday. One of the top quarterbacks, Tom Brady, will face off against the Chicago Bears and their third-ranked defense in the NFL.

The New England Patriots had a slow start to the season going 1-2 falling to the Detroit Lions and the Jacksonville Jaguars. They slowly started to pick it back up winning three in a row, jumping from third to first in the AFC East division.

The Bears lost in overtime to the Miami Dolphins. Miami kicked a last-second field goal to steal the win at home 31-28. Even with the loss to the Dolphins, Chicago still remains the leader of the NFC North.

Bears Defense vs. Tom Brady

Khalil Mack so far this season has four forced fumbles, five sacks, a fumble recovery, a touchdown, and an interception. Mack has also converted 27.8% of his pressures into sacks. The NFL average is 18%. Their third-ranked defense isn’t all because of Mack though. The things the Bears struggled the most with last week was the pass rush via screens, and short pass plays.

Tom Brady is outstanding at avoiding sacks. His offensive line is also one of the best in the game. Brady will need to get the ball out quick to be able to avoid pressure and sacks. Brady is 4-0 against the Bears in his career. He averages 329.5 passing yards per game vs. the Bears, which is more than any other team he’s faced.

Patriots Defense vs. Mitchell Trubisky

The Patriots defense is ranked 21th overall. They give up an average of almost 380 yards per game and allow nearly 25 points per game. But they have racked up six interceptions, five forced fumbles, and four fumble recoveries this season.

Mitchell Trubisky has stepped up his game since last season. In 2017, Trubisky only had seven touchdown passes with seven interceptions. In 2018, he already has 11 touchdown passes and just four interceptions. He is averaging 252 passing yards per game as well as completing 70.2% of his passes. Compared to last year where he was only completing 59.5% of his passes and only averaging 182.2 passing yards per game.

Bears’ head coach Matt Nagy is looking to the steal the win from the Patriots on Sunday. Rookie head coaches are 15-45 vs. New England since 2000. Of the last eight, only one has prevailed in taking the win against New England; Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia in Week 3.