The Chicago Bears return to the national stage on Monday night against the Washington Redskins, where they have an opportunity to walk away with a winning record for the first time in their young season.
Aside from the fact that it’s a primetime game that millions will be watching, all eyes will be on the Bears as they try to establish its offensive identity.
Let’s be honest, there are a lot of predictions that can be deemed “bold” when it relates to the Bears offense. Which is why three of these five bold predictions are centered around the offense and the opportunity they have to finally get on track against a Redskins defense that ranks 30th in the NFL.
Here are five bold predictions for the Bears’ Week 3 contest versus the Redskins.
1. Mitch Trubisky has his ‘Buccaneers’ game vs. Redskins
There’s no player under more pressure than Bears QB Mitch Trubisky, whose shaky start to the season has been a cause for concern.
While Trubisky came up clutch on fourth-and-15, when he threw a dart to Allen Robinson to set up Eddy Pineiro’s game-winning field goal against Denver, his overall performance was underwhelming.
This feels eerily familiar to last season, where concerns about Trubisky flooded the conversation in the first three weeks before he came out against the Buccaneers and threw six touchdowns, a performance that showed that he’s capable of being that star quarterback.
This Redskins game has the same feeling to it. Trubisky struggling, preparing to face one of the league’s worst defenses and knowing something has to click eventually. This Redskins game will be Trubisky’s Buccaneers game from a season ago. It has to be.
2. Bears put up 30-plus points vs. Washington
The idea of the Bears scoring 30 points in a single game is hard to fathom, considering that they haven’t scored more than 20 points in two combined contests.
But if there was ever a time to go from 20 points in two games to 30 in one game, it would be against a Redskins defense that has allowed 30-plus points in its first two weeks against the Eagles and Cowboys.
This game also gives the Bears offense an opportunity to light a spark that’s been a dud in these first two games. Not only has the Redskins defense allowed an average of 31.5 points per game, they’ve given up 910 yards of total offense in the last two weeks.
The Bears offense has been waiting for things to click. This is the week that it finally does.
3. David Montgomery posts first 100-yard rushing game
This might be the least bold of my bold predictions given the state of the Redskins defense. But for a defense that has surrendered an average 168 rushing yards per game, I’d expect nothing different from rookie David Montgomery.
The Bears offense certainly hasn’t been consistent, but it was reassuring to see Chicago get the run game going a bit against Denver. After running the ball just 15 times against the Packers, the Bears ran it 29 times against the Broncos.
Montgomery had 18 of those carries for 62 yards and the Bears’ lone touchdown of the season. Expect a similar workload for the rookie, who has a chance to really break some big runs against Washington’s defense.
Tarik Cohen’s role in this offense appears to be more about targets instead of touches, which opens Montgomery up to be the workhorse in a backfield that also consists of Mike Davis and, at times, Cordarrelle Patterson.
4. Bears defense will get 6 sacks and 3 turnovers vs. Redskins
Stats can be deceiving. Look no further than the Washington Redskins and QB Case Keenum, whose numbers tell a different story than the eye test.
In two games, Keenum has 601 yards, five touchdowns and a 69 percent completion percentage for a 111.2 passer rating. But given the lack of a run game, Washington’s offense is one-dimensional headed into Monday’s game against a Bears defense that knows how to get after the quarterback.
The Bears defense has seven sacks in their first two games, where they faced the likes of Aaron Rodgers and Joe Flacco. Keenum presents an opportunity for the Bears to bring the pressure, which could lead to a big game defensively.
If Chicago can stop the run and make the Redskins one-dimensional, we could be looking at the kind of performance fantasy football owners would kill for from this Bears defense.
5. Eddy Pineiro boots another 50-plus-yard field goal
It’s a good week to be Bears kicker Eddy Pineiro, who’s riding the confidence of his 53-yard game-winning field goal against the Broncos that saved Chicago from an early 0-2 hole.
Pineiro has been a perfect 4-for-4 on the season, one of five kickers left in the league this season to accomplish the feat. He was 3-for-3 against the Broncos last Sunday and, as it stands, is Chicago’s leading scorer.
Pineiro is the only kicker in the league that is perfect from beyond 50 yards on multiple attempts. He drilled a 52 and 53 yarder against Denver.
Hopefully the Bears offense will be scoring touchdowns on Monday night so that Pineiro won’t have to kick many, if any field goals. But, if he does, bank on Pineiro hitting another 50-yard field goal.
