The Chicago Bears (2-4) will face the New England Patriots (3-3) in a prime-time Monday Night Football game in Week 7.
The Bears are looking to stop their slide after suffering three consecutive losses. However, the Patriots are on a two-game winning streak, and their coach, Bill Belichick, will become the second-winningest coach with a win on Monday night.
The legendary coach was complimentary of the young Bears team in his weekly press conference. And Chicago will look to play spoiler on Monday night. Here are three things the Bears need to do on offense to beat New England.
1
Successfully run the ball
The key to beating New England is on the ground. In their three losses, the Patriots allowed an average of 150.6 yards rushing compared to their wins, where they only allowed 87.3 on the ground.
It will be difficult since Bill Belichick is a master at taking away the opposing team’s greatest weapon, but Chicago has no choice besides running the ball. The Bears should lean heavily on two back formations and force the Patriots to account for Khalil Herbert and David Montgomery.
The best thing Chicago does is run the ball. If they want to beat New England, Khalil Herbert and David Montgomery should get 10-15 touches each. The pair combined for 647 rushing yards, four touchdowns (44% of the offense’s touchdowns), and an average of 5.2 yards per attempt.
2
Protect the football
Protecting the football is a challenge for the Bears. Nearly 13% of all offensive drives end in a turnover which is top 10 for worst in the NFL. Chicago is just outside the top five in total turnovers (6th worst) with 10 total.
New England wins games by forcing turnovers and protecting the football. In their wins, the Patriots have a positive turnover differential of 1.7. In their losses, it is negative 1.3. If the Bears win on Monday night, they’ll likely have more takeaways than turnovers.
3
Extend drives by converting on third down
Winning on third down is difficult for the Bears, but it’s also the key to their success. New England has held teams to a 38% third down conversion rating in their three wins. In their three losses, it’s 44%.
The hard part is that Chicago averages a 36% conversion rating on third down and has only converted 40%+ twice this season against Houston and Minnesota.
Those two games where the Bears converted better than 40% of their third down attempts were two of their best offensive performances of the year and highest-scoring games of the year.
Football is simple; when Chicago can extend drives, they play better and have a greater chance of winning.
