News » Chicago Bears vs New York Jets Preview

Which Players to Watch For The Chicago Bears are coming off another tough loss. For the second week in a row Jordan Howard Color Rush Jersey , the Bears have played poorly and still led the game by 10 or more points, only to see the game slip away. The good news is that the Bears have been relatively healthy this season and we should see Khalil Mack play again this weekend, but his effectiveness is unknown. On the other side of the field, the New York Jets are kind of the opposite. They are basically the 2017 Bears but with more established talent on both sides of the ball. This is a game that the Bears should win, but the way this season has played out, that isn’t a guarantee. The keys to winning this game are going to come down to the key players, as it usually does. Since we can’t really watch coaches, I am not listing them here, but I will keep a close eye on how Matt Nagy and Vic Fangio call their respective sides of the ball. Here is my list of players to keep an eye on Sunday afternoon.Who to WatchMitch Trubisky: After a difficult performance last week accuracy-wise, I am looking to see how Trubisky responds. The Jets secondary is banged-up, and their interception numbers are inflated by a 5-interception game against the Lions on the opening week of the season. Look for Nagy to get Trubisky into a rhythm early with short throws, but I expect him to take his shots downfield, as usual. The Jets play a lot of man, so picks, crossing routes Eddie Jackson Jersey , and double-moves will be the keys to success in the passing game. Jordan Howard: I mentioned in the previous article that Nagy blamed his scheme for the trouble with rushing the football. If he does make the change back to what has worked in the past for this offense, I expect to see Howard finally breakout and have a huge game. Granted, this is dependent upon them making some changes, otherwise, I think it’s more of the same.Khalil Mack: How is Mack’s ankle? That is the most important question on defense until further notice. If Mack is feeling good and ready to play like he did early on, then this defense should put rookie quarterback Sam Darnold in some rough situations. The young passer will turn the ball over if the pass rush is there to disturb him. Other players will need to step up, but Mack is the straw that stirs the drink on this Bears defense.Roquan Smith: Smith inexplicably played roughly half the game last week. I have no idea what Fangio was thinking, but Smith is by far the Bears best coverage linebacker and his services will be required on Sunday. Prior to the Patriots game, Smith had his best game as a pro down in Miami. Look for him to continue to take steps towards showing why the Bears took him with the 8th overall pick, but he will need to be on the field for that to happen. What are your thoughts? Which Bears players are you keeping an eye on this Sunday afternoon against the Jets?Stay tuned for my Three Keys to the Game tomorrow morning and in case you missed it, here is my What to Watch For from earlier today.Bears Rush Report 2018: Week 6 at the Dolphins For the first time this season, the Chicago Bears not only had less than 4 sacks in a game, but they were shutout completely in that category. Frankly, they rarely got close to Dolphins quarterback Brock Osweiler at all. There are a few reasons for this. Whether you believe that it’s because of the heat (which is certainly plausible), or it was Khalil Mack’s ankle injury (around the 8-minute mark of the 1st quarter) https://www.thebearsfanshop.com/Allen-Robinson-Jersey , or perhaps it was Vic Fangio’s game-planning, or possibly even the way that Adam Gase and the Dolphins planned to stop the Bears, but in reality, it was all of those things.Based on the fact that the Bears missed 14 of 19 tackles in the second half certainly speaks to the heat argument. However, I found that the 3rd quarter was the best from a pass rushing perspective. That doesn’t tell the whole story though. The Bears utilized their blitz packages more in the 3rd quarter, and were frankly, more effective when they blitzed. I felt that Fangio missed opportunities. When he dialed up the blitz, it rattled Osweiler and with the way the secondary played and the poor tackling, this should have been the game plan in the second half. Once Mack had his ankle grabbed/rolled on (it isn’t clear what exactly happened but Frank Gore goes low and Mack takes a few steps, looks back, and is limping), Fangio should have looked at alternative ways to get more pass rush. This was especially exacerbated by the fact that Gase called a lot of quick passes. There was one other thing that you will notice below, he kept either a tight end or wide receiver (almost always Danny Amendola) in the slot, tight to the formation. Most of the time, there would be a chip to the outside linebacker there Chase Daniel Color Rush Jersey , who was also forced to play from a wider alignment. Once Mack was slowed down, they were able to focus on double-teaming other players as Mack was clearly affected by this injury. Either way you slice it, this was not a great performance. I took the most interesting clips from the game that I could find that involved rushing the passer. They are in chronological order but otherwise, just a hodgepodge. There is a mix of close calls, blitzes, missed opportunities, confusion, and penalties that weren’t called. Without further adieu, here is the Week 6 Rush Report!Week 6 at the DolphinsThere were some solid rushes in here but you can tell that Mack wasn’t the same guy after the ankle injury. I thought that Hicks was most consistent individual rusher, but there were a few missed hands to the face in there as well. All in all, this was a sloppy performance that started with a poor game plan and was made worse by factors out of the Bears control. I will be curious to hear everyone’s thoughts on these clips, so please don’t forget to comment below.