Hot off the heels of an impressive win over the Kansas City Chiefs, the New England Patriots turn right around to face the Chicago Bears in Week 7.
The Chiefs were able to put up 40 points on the Patriots and compete with them right up until the very end. Minus a few first half mistakes from Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs might be boasting a 6-0 record right now.
The Bears, with an almost identical offense to the Chiefs, have the blueprint for how to contend with the Patriots. A solid run game, effective defense and mistake-free football may allow the Bears to walk out of Soldier Field as victors.
However, this game may come down to two key matchups on the field.
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Rob Gronkowski vs. The Double Team
Earlier this season, the New England Patriots lost to the Detroit Lions, 26-10.
A large part of this loss was the fact that the Patriots offense revolves around Gronkowski…and the Lions took him out of the equation by double teaming him.
They dared Tom Brady to throw to his other targets, such as Chris Hogan, Phillip Dorsett, James White, etc. and essentially eliminated Gronkowski from the game.
This resulted in an effective beat down and led Matt Patricia to his first victory as head coach of the Lions.
Will Vic Fangio follow this blueprint and force Tom Brady to throw to his other targets? If Gronk is being double teamed by guys like Danny Trevathan and Adrian Amos, Brady might not have a choice. Because of that, we could see the Patriots offense stutter as it did in Week 3.
Josh Gordon vs. Kyle Fuller
The one piece that was missing from the Patriots and Lions game was Josh Gordon.
Gordon, an incredibly athletic and talented wide receiver, was acquired from the Cleveland Browns by the Patriots on September 17th.
Full compensation trade update: Patriots send Browns a 2019 fifth-round pick for WR Josh Gordon and get back a 2019 seventh-round pick if he is not active for 10 games, source tells ESPN. Trade was supposed to be for a 6th-round pick, but Patriots don't have a 6th.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 17, 2018
Gordon has slowly been acclimating to this complicated and complex New England offense and learning the ins and outs. His snap percentage has slowly been increasing over the past few games and he’s becoming a trusted target of Brady.
Gordon wasn’t there to take pressure off of Gronkowski in that Lions game in Week 3, which left the Patriots offense throwing to inferior weapons. It’s now looking like Gordon might becoming more of a focal point of the offense…and starting this week.
Belichick on Josh Gordon: "I would just say his role is expanding weekly and we'll just see how it all plays out."
— Doug Kyed (@DougKyed) October 16, 2018
Kyle Fuller will most likely be assigned to shadow Gordon for most of the day. Fuller stood out last week with two interceptions, two passes defended and seven total tackles and is very quietly having a solid year.
However, up until this point, Fuller has not had to go up against a threat like Gordon. If Fuller can shut down Gordon, which is not an easy task by any stretch of the imagination, the Patriots may be forced to rely on other secondary options like Edelman and White.
Julian Edelman and James White are great players in their role, but they’re not going to take over a game and lead the Patriots to putting 43 points on the board again.
The Bears defense matches up very well with this Patriots offense. If the Bears offense continues to click and put up points, the game may come down to the Bears defense versus the Patriots offense.
And if the Bears can hold up on these two key matchups, Gordon and Gronkowski, there’s a solid chance the Bears walk out of Soldier Field with a victory.
