The Chicago Bears will face the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs in Week 3, as the team attempts to score their first win of the season.
Let’s address the elephant in the room: The Bears are thoroughly outmatched. The Chiefs have more talent, better coaches and better organizational structure, as evidenced by this week’s events at Halas Hall. Still, part of being a fan is rooting for your team even in the face of imminent peril, and a win is not out of the question. Stranger things have happened in the league that has the motto of “any given Sunday.”
Buy Bears TicketsThere will be some interesting storylines to keep track of as the game progresses. So let’s break them all down as we go over the five biggest storylines going into Week 3 against the Chiefs.
1
Can Justin Fields put together his best game of the season?
There’s been a lot of buzz that the offense and, by extension, Fields are getting closer to resolving their issues moving the ball leading up to Sunday. Now that Week 3 is here, it’s time to see some of that progress.
Fields himself said that his mindset for quarterbacking against the Chiefs will be relying on his instincts and talent, and that should elevate the offense to a respectable degree. Fields will need to pair his incredible running ability with his arm talent, preferably with the passes going vertical rather than horizontal. Instead of grounding himself in the pocket as head coach Matt Eberflus and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy tried to get him to do, he’ll need to let the game come to him. If he takes the snap and he anticipates a receiver coming open, there should be no second guessing the throw; conversely, if the play breaks down and coverage is sound, Fields should not hesitate to extend the play with his greatest strength.
If Chicago is to shock the NFL world with a win today, Fields will have to be the launch point that propels everyone else.
2
Will we see a much different gameplan from Luke Getsy?
After a tumultuous week that began with Fields acknowledged his coaching as a reason for his uncharacteristically stiff play, the pressure is heating up against offensive coordinator Luke Getsy. His offensive philosophy of going horizontal in an attempt to beat defenses on the boundary has failed spectacularly. If it’s true that the Bears spent more time tinkering with the gameplan this week, then Getsy has no excuse if the offense once again fails to be productive.
I’ve said it the first two weeks of the season and I’ll say it again: Getsy needs to call plays that work with the offense’s strengths as a unit. Vertical passes, zone runs, designed QB rollouts and runs — these are all concepts Chicago excelled at last season, but have failed to execute this season. If the Bears get back to the status quo, Chicago football will be fun to watch again.
3
Can a hampered offensive line hold their own against the Chiefs' front four?
Left guard Teven Jenkins: IR. Left tackle Braxton Jones: IR. Right guard Nate Davis: Questionable.
Chicago is severely undermanned at the offensive line, and they’ll face an opponent Sunday who can take advantage. The Chiefs’ defensive line is a tough unit that features the likes of Chris Jones and George Karlaftis, and they’ll make it their sole focus to make life difficult for ball carriers. The duct taped together offensive line will need to punch above their weight and prevent the Chiefs front from taking over entirely. Expect Getsy to incorporate an in-line tight end or an extra blocker to give that boost to the run or pass game.
4
Will the defensive line stop the run and get sacks?
The Bears’ front four did an admirable job in working past a stout Buccaneers offensive line and getting in the face of quarterback Baker Mayfield. The only issue is the unit failed to actually bring Tampa Bay passer down for a sack. Throw in the group getting overpowered in the run game, and it resulted in the defense getting gashed by an average offense.
The Chiefs offense is world’s better than the Bucs’, so that does not bode well for the Bears. However, there was a noticeable leap in play from the group from Week 1 to Week 2, so we should see some more growth in Week 3.
The key will be filling run lanes better than they had last week and finishing the job when the team penetrates the Chiefs’ backfield. Mahomes is a world-beater as a quarterback, so letting him sit in the pocket to pick apart the defense is not the way Chicago secures an unlikely victory. Create a whirlwind of chaos in the pocket for Mahomes, and being an All-Pro passer suddenly gets much more difficult.
5
Can an Eddie Jackson-less secondary stop Travis Kelce?
Only a select few teams in the NFL can say their most dangerous receiver is a tight end, and the Bears are matched up with the team that has the best of them all. Kelce is already an almost guaranteed lock for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and Mahomes connection with his tight end is one of the all-time great QB-TE connections ever.
It’s needless to say trying to stop Kelce will be a difficult task for the Bears defense, especially now that safety Eddie Jackson was ruled out. Kelce will need to be the focus of any given Chiefs passing play, with help being rolled over the top. The linebackers will be the first line of defense against Kelce and, if they fail to stop Kelce from catching passes, a corner or safety will be deployed to match up with him.
Tabs need to be kept on the All-Pro tight end, or he and Mahomes will run up the score on Chicago soon after the game starts.
