The Chicago Bears return off of their bye to take on the red-hot New Orleans Saints. While the Bears have been up-and-down while operating with their backup quarterback, Chase Daniel, the Saints have had no problems with Teddy Bridgewater running the show. Even with Drew Brees out, the Saints have won four in a row. This week figures to be their toughest test as they visit Soldier Field on Sunday. They might be without star running back Alvin Kamara too, making this road trip all the more challenging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Saints are likely to face Mitchell Trubisky in this game as the starting quarterback for the Bears looks like he\u2019ll be back. Trubisky has been injured the past few weeks and hasn\u2019t been able to play but it\u2019s not quite clear if his return is a good thing. He has just three touchdowns and two interceptions on the season but all of those three touchdowns came in one game. Daniel also had three touchdowns and two interceptions in the two starts he\u2019s made. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whoever is in charge, the Saints defense should be in good shape. The Saints defense has 18 sacks on the season (eighth-most) and is allowing opposing quarterbacks to complete just 61.9% of their passes (ninth in the NFL). Their run defense has given up just 80.5 rushing yards over the last four weeks, so it\u2019s hard to see the Bears path to victory if they can\u2019t run the ball effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On offense, the Saints have to do what they\u2019ve been doing: play smart, play for field position and take points when they get them. If they continue to avoid mistakes, they\u2019ll probably win again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Bears can cover here because they\u2019re fresh off a bye after getting embarrassed in London by the Oakland Raiders. Their defense uncharacteristically couldn\u2019t get any key stops and allowed rookie running back Josh Jacobs to run wild for 123 yards and a pair of touchdowns. With a bye week to clean up the mistakes, they should look much better on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Bears don\u2019t need to complicate things here as their game plan will be the same as New Orleans. They need to avoid turnovers, run the ball as best as they can and rely on their defense. The Saints look like they\u2019ll be without Kamara and tight end Jared Cook, so the Bears should be in good shape. Keep in mind that New Orleans scored just 12 points in Week 4 and only 13 points in Week 6, but the Saints won because their defense played virtually flawless games. The Bears\u2019 defense can overwhelm the Saints\u2019 offense and win this game 16-10 or 13-7. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Bears have talked about working on big passing plays in the bye week but who knows if they\u2019re able to execute them. They have the fourth-fewest passing plays of 20 yards or longer. Assuming that part of their offense doesn\u2019t drastically change, we\u2019re looking at two teams who plan to run the ball, play defense and avoid mistakes. That should bring us to an under unless a lot of whacky things happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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