You have to imagine that Raiders coach Jon Gruden has had Sunday’s game against the Bears circled on his calendar for some time. As has Khalil Mack, the All-Pro edge rusher he traded away to the Bears last season.
While Oakland will be focused on containing Mack, it’s not just Mack that Gruden’s Raiders have to contend with. The entire Bears defensive unit has dominated opponents this season.
Gruden knows that after watching how the Bears defense beat up on his brother Jay’s Washington Redskins in Week 3. Chicago forced five turnovers and collected four sacks in the 31-15 victory.
“We might need five downs against the Bears,” Jon Gruden said in a conference call with Chicago media. “My brother, I saw, went for fourth-and-inches last week, and they forced a fumble on a quarterback sneak. Every foot you make against this defense is a hard-earned foot.”
Perhaps the scariest thing about this Bears defense is the depth of the unit, as evidenced by last Sunday’s 16-6 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. Not only did the defense shut down the NFL’s leading rusher, Dalvin Cook — and got in the face of QB Kirk Cousins — but they did it without three defensive starters: Akiem Hicks, Roquan Smith and Bilal Nichols.
The Bears are holding opponents to 11.5 points per game this season, which is second in the league only to the New England Patriots. Chicago also ranks fourth in the league in rushing yards allowed, giving up just 61.5 yards per game, which isn’t good news for rookie RB Josh Jacobs.
The Raiders will have their hands full with this defense, which is still searching for its first shutout of the season and knows it can be better. And boy, is that scary.
