The Chicago Bears get back to work this weekend on a short week following their dominant 33-14 victory over the New England Patriots. They’re back on the road, this time heading down to Texas to take on the Dallas Cowboys and hopefully start a winning streak for the first time this season.
It’s a homecoming of sorts for head coach Matt Eberflus, who will make his first trip back to Dallas as a coach since he was a part of the Cowboys staff. Eberflus spent seven years as the Cowboys linebackers coach from 2011 to 2017 before he became the defensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts.
The Bears will need to avoid Dallas’ star defenders to have a chance, but with a sound gameplan like they had in New England, a win is possible. This game is going to be decided on the ground, however. Here are five bold predictions ahead of this matchup.
1
Justin Fields rushes for at least 100 yards
Despite all his success running the football, Justin Fields has only eclipsed 100-yards rushing just once in his career. That came almost a year ago to the day on October 31st, 2021 when he ran all over the San Francisco 49ers. A repeat performance is on the table this year against the Cowboys.
Though the Cowboys will be planning for Fields to run, it won’t matter. He’s shown to be elusive and quick enough to glide past defenders and make something out of nothing, whether it’s a designed run or scrambling out of the pocket. The Cowboys allowed Daniel Jones to rush for 79 yards against them a month ago and have shown they can be bullied off the line for short gains as well, like against the Philadelphia Eagles a couple weeks back. Fields is going to put on a clinic two weeks in a row.
2
Khalil Herbert and David Montgomery each rush for a touchdown
The Bears leaned on running back Khalil Herbert and David Montgomery in their win against the Patriots on Monday, with both players each receiving more than 10 carries. They also each found the end zone, with Herbert taking a 25-yard screen pass to the house and Montgomery bursting through the middle on a short run. With the success these two players had, they will once again be a focal point of the offense, especially in the red zone. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Herbert and Montgomery will likely once again split carries at almost 50/50 throughout the game. The Bears will continue to ride the hot hand, meaning each player should get plenty of run as they have complimented each other well this year. They’re both going to find the end zone once again in a run-first approach.
3
No Bears receiver gets 50 yards receiving
The Dallas defense is lethal against the pass and the Bears offense isn’t designed to throw the ball well. It’s safe to say this probably won’t be an aerial assault on the Cowboys secondary. The Bears have had much more success on the ground than through the air and that’s going to continue this weekend. Fields may only through for 120 yards and no Bears receiver will eclipse 50 yards receiving.
Even in last week’s onslaught, the leading receiver was Darnell Mooney with 53 yards on three catches. He was the only player to go over 50 yards. Be prepared for some low yardage totals against this vaunted Cowboys pass defense.
4
Trevis Gipson gets his first sack in weeks
It’s been a quiet season for defensive end Trevis Gipson. The prime candidate to break out in 2022 has only notched two sacks, both coming in the same game, and only has 11 total tackles in seven weeks. The Bears pass rush hasn’t been elite this season and it just took a hit with the trade of Robert Quinn to the Philadelphia Eagles earlier in the week.
With Quinn now gone, someone on the defensive line is going to need to step up and fill his shoes. I can’t think of a better candidate than Gipson. The third-year defensive end has learned from Quinn the last two and a half years and showed plenty of potential last year when he notched eight sacks and five forced fumbles. The Dallas offensive line has played fairly well, despite dealing with injuries at the tackle position. They’re only allowing 1.6 sacks per game, according to Team Rankings. But I expect Gipson to play with a fire we haven’t seen this year yet to get his third sack of the season.
5
Jaylon Johnson records his first interception of the year
It seems as if everyone in the Bears secondary has gotten an interception this season after rookies Jaquan Brisker and Kyler Gordon recorded the first of their career last week. They join Eddie Jackson and Kindle Vildor as the other defensive backs with picks this year, leaving Jaylon Johnson as the lone holdout.
Johnson is still doing a phenomenal job covering receivers as quarterbacks have just a 66.1 rating when targeting him. After he wasn’t even looked at his first couple games, Johnson is now seeing passes come his way and he’s been close on a few plays. This week as Dak Prescott continues to work his way back into form, he’ll make a mistake and leave one hanging for Johnson to snag.
