The Chicago Bears (4-5) return to primetime in what’s become an important conference game against the Los Angeles Rams (5-4), where both struggling teams are looking for a win to keep in the NFC Wild Card playoff race.
The Bears broke their four-game losing streak with a divisional win over the Detroit Lions, which hopefully provides some momentum for the team heading into an important matchup.
Here are four bold predictions for the Bears’ Week 11 contest versus the Rams.
1. Khalil Mack outperforms Aaron Donald
Khalil Mack and Aaron Donald are two of the NFL’s best players, period. Just look at the money the Bears and Rams, respectively, have given to two players that have altered their franchises.
While Mack and Donald don’t play the same position, their job is simply to get after the quarterback. They’re both two play makers that can wreck a game at any moment. Both haven’t replicated their statistical outputs from a season ago, but they’re still dominant forces that require offenses to game-plan around them.
Mack, specifically, has been quiet since September, where he recorded 4.5 sacks and 4 forced fumbles after the first four games. Since then, Mack has had just one additional sack. While the defense’s recent struggles don’t all fall on him, this is one of those games where Mack needs to come out like the force he is and win this game for the Bears, adding a couple sacks of Jared Goff and forcing a fumble.
2. Mitchell Trubisky out-duels Jared Goff
A Mitchell Trubisky vs. Jared Goff showdown isn’t necessarily a matchup worthy of Sunday Night Football, but here we are. While Trubisky’s struggles this season have been well-documented nationally and locally, his buddy Goff has also been struggling.
In fact, his numbers have been worse than Trubisky’s. Goff has had five straight games with a completion rate below 60 percent, while Trubisky has managed a passer rating above 60 percent in four of his last five games.
While Trubisky has an 85.2 passer rating this season, Goff’s is lower at 82.7. Trubisky has thrown eight touchdowns and three interceptions this season to Goff’s 11 touchdowns versus nine interceptions. And Goff is the one that got paid — $110 million guaranteed.
While both quarterbacks aren’t expected to do much against these defenses, I’m going bold in saying that Trubisky won’t be the worst quarterback on the field in a battle between starters. Hey, it happened in this game last season, where Trubisky’s passer rating of 33.3 was better than Goff’s measly 19.1.
3. Allen Robinson eclipses 100 yards
It’s a family reunion of sorts as receiver Allen Robinson will face-off against his former Jacksonville teammate cornerback Jalen Ramsey on the primetime stage.
Robinson has been the consistent bright spot on Chicago’s offense this season — even when teams know that Trubisky is going to target him, he still comes down with those catches. You’d expect Ramsey to cover Robinson almost exclusively, which means that this is going to be one of the battles to watch come Sunday night.
Having gone up against each other in practice for a couple years, Robinson and Ramsey are certainly familiar with each other, and they expect a physical battle. So this might be my boldest prediction this week, but Robinson will get the best of Ramsey and post another 100-yard game.
4. Eddie Jackson nabs first interception of season — a pick-six
We’re nine games into the season, and safety Eddie Jackson still doesn’t have an interception. At this point last season, Jackson already had two interceptions, and he’d add four more by season’s end.
But there’s something about Jackson’s ability to make plays in big-time situations that has me thinking that, in what’s surely to be a low-scoring affair, that this might be the game where he comes up with a clutch interception and give the Bears some points. And what better game than against the Rams, where Chicago is clinging to slim playoff hopes.
