The Chicago Bears went into the 2019/20 NFL season as the favorites with some bookmakers to defend their NFC North title and reach the playoffs with a home tie in their opening game. Unfortunately, results so far have been mixed which means not only do they have work on their hands to reach the playoffs, Matt Nagy and his coaching team are under pressure to keep their jobs.
With so much football still to play in the regular season though, the campaign should not be written off just yet. Here are three reasons to believe that the Bears can end the season well and reach the playoffs for the second consecutive year.
Defense Still Most Feared In The League
Although Chicago’s offense has been toothless so far in 2019, their defense is arguably still the most feared in the league as they have shown they have the talent to remain in games even when they are not scoring points. If it wasn’t for the defense, wins against the Minnesota Vikings (16-6) and the Denver Broncos (16-14) could easily have been defeated.
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Chicago has averaged just 17.5 points per game against them in their opening six games of the season. Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Kyle Fuller are two players who have stood out the most as they have four interceptions between them. The Bears will continue to cause NFL offenses problems this year and with four divisional games still to come this season, their defense will believe they can help carry their team back into the post-season.
Last Season’s Late Form
To finish above the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings this season, the Bears are going to have to run the table. The way they finished their 2018 campaign suggests they are capable of doing that. Chicago won nine of their last 10 games last year, losing only to the New York Giants in overtime in that period at the Metlife Stadium in New Jersey.
What is going to be so crucial for the Nagy’s side, is that they beat their divisional rivals. They have four games left against teams in the NFC North so they have a good chance of inflicting defeats on the teams above them.
Mitch Trubisky looked a much better quarterback in the second half of 2018 as he was playing with confidence. If the Bears can just get a few wins together over the next few weeks, they will build momentum and could establish themselves as Super Bowl contenders.
Montgomery Can Take Pressure Off Trubisky
In 2018, the Chicago Bears were one of the best rushing teams in the NFL and although they lost Jordan Howard earlier this year to the Philadelphia Eagles, David Montgomery has shown signs he can step into those shoes. In the defeat suffered at the hands of the New Orleans Saints recently, the Bears called up just seven running plays as they preferred to use Trubisky’s passing. Given how unsuccessful they were in that game at Soldier Field, Nagy and his coaching staff may look to go back to what worked so well last year.
Montgomery was selected in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft and has rushed for 231 yards so far. He is projected to finish the campaign with 616 if he continues to see the ball at the rate he is going now. If Nagy decides to increase his activity, his total yards could be much closer to 1000 by the end of the year.
Some of this information was taken from analysts at Betway.
