The Chicago Bears (3-1) will face the Oakland Raiders (2-2) without starting QB Mitch Trubisky, who suffered a dislocated left shoulder on the first series of last Sunday’s 16-6 win over the Minnesota Vikings (2-2).
While the Bears are optimistic Trubisky will be back after the bye week for a Week 7 match-up against New Orleans, it’s Chase Daniel’s game this Sunday in London.
The Bears’ defense is good enough to win games on their own, but the Bears’ offense is going to need to do its part come Sunday.
Here are three keys for the Bears’ offense in Week 5’s contest vs. the Raiders.
1. Don’t put the game in Chase Daniel’s hands
The simple fact of the matter is, with this Bears defense, the quarterback doesn’t need to do much in order to lead the team to a victory. So as Chase Daniel steps up for the injured Mitch Trubisky in his first start of the season, he doesn’t need to try and put the team on his shoulders. He just needs to run this offense.
Look no further than last season, where Daniel started two games for an injured Trubisky. Daniel took what the Lions’ defense gave him and had a solid afternoon in a Thanksgiving victory. But the following week against the Giants, Daniel tried to do too much and found himself making costly mistakes in a heartbreaking OT loss.
Daniel isn’t the guy that’s going to put the team on his back and carry them to victory, and that’s okay. He doesn’t have to be.
2. Establish the run game
Matt Nagy isn’t happy with how his offense has run the football, and he shouldn’t be. The Bears rank 25th in the league in rushing yards, averaging 90.3 rushing yards per game.
Montgomery leads the Bears with 58 rushes for 200 yards and a touchdown. But he’s only averaging 3.4 yards per carry, which isn’t something reassuring about the status of your rushing attack.
If there was ever a time to get the run game going, it’s against a Raiders defense that ranks in the middle of the pack in run defense allowing 104.5 rushing yards per game. But the Bears offensive line, who has struggled run blocking, is going to need to step up.
The run game is also a quarterback’s best friend. And given that you’re without your starting quarterback, as Mitch Trubisky recovers from a dislocated left shoulder, backup Chase Daniel can certainly benefit from a productive run game, as can the entire offense.
3. Protect the football
While the Bears offense has struggled mightily in the first four weeks of the season, the one thing they’ve done well is protect the football. Chicago has just two turnovers in four games — both Mitch Trubisky interceptions — and a +6 turnover differential.
This goes back to the fact that the Bears defense is so good that the offense doesn’t need to do much. But with an offensive head coach in Matt Nagy, is that something that he’s ultimately willing to do?
We saw that he was able to do that last week against the Vikings, after Trubisky went down and Chase Daniel relieved him. There’s no reason to get flashy when you’re down your starting quarterback and playing with a defense that can win you games.
