4th and Goal(s): Bears Gear Up On Make-or-Break Monday Night in Pittsburgh
RB, OL reinforcements could help Bears shake off losing streak against Steelers
Are you ready for the bye week? You likely will be after tonight.
Rooting for the Chicago Bears hasn’t been easy in 2021 and the last three weeks’ losses have sunk a lot of moods in and out of Halas Hall, but a win on the road against the Steelers in prime-time on Monday Night Football could reignite some now fading playoff hopes. The odds of that happening, though, may not be on the same level as tonight’s game forcing the Bears to limp into the bye with a 4-game losing streak.
The Steelers have a spread advantage of about a touchdown over Chicago entering Monday.
This looks to be a match-up the Bears can win, similar to last week against the 49ers. That being said, the Bears are not in the same winnable position as last week even if this week’s opponent is beatable. The usual concerns are prevalent such as injuries and continued bad habits.
On the positive side, the Bears get back an important offensive piece in running back David Montgomery, and the hope of further development of quarterback Justin Fields. Here are the four keys for the Bears to avoid a worst case scenario to their season and the futures of head coach Matt Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace.
In the future we trust - Justin Fields has really been the only bright spot on this season for the Bears and his promise was ramped up after a very good performance against the 49ers. Who knows, maybe if the quarterback had some help as well as the coaching staff putting the right players on the field based on situation, we could have been talking about a win on top of Fields’ most impressive performance?
The glimpse of the possibility of his career in Chicago felt so real with the underlining feeling of even better to come. If the Bears are going to win this matchup then Fields will have to be a significant part of it.
It’s asking a lot of a rookie quarterback, especially one who didn’t get but a precious few first team reps looking back to training camp — it was such a good thing Andy Dalton got so many, right? (not) — but this is where the Bears are at right now.
A new dynamic duo? - In his most recent press conference, Matt Nagy said that David Montgomery will be playing in this game, making his return after four weeks lost to a strained MCL. The backfield of impressive rookie running back Khalil Herbert and Montgomery is an exciting combo potentially. Two different style of backs, but both have the ability to make guys miss.
If the Bears can deploy these two backs in a strategic way against the Steelers solid run defense, then perhaps the Bears can hit another level with their running attack which has been the most consistent part of the offense overall. Another key to this attack perhaps maximizing the running attack’s potential is that it controls the clock for the Bears and keeps an injured Bears defense off the field.
Reinforcement for the offensive line - Recently healthy right tackle Larry Borom showed a solidness at the position against a good defensive front in the 49ers.
Borom is still a rookie with very limited reps because of injuries in training camp as well as the high ankle sprain from Week 1 that kept him out until Week 8. If this young rookie can become a trustworthy starter along with the improved play from left tackle Jason Peters as well as a solid interior bodes well toward the goal of consistently solid offensive efforts every week.
This Steelers defense is solid in both the run and the pass and they are especially good at keeping opponents out of the end zone. Points could be hard to come by for the Bears offense and if that happens the offense better be able to get enough field goals and time of possession to not give away a winnable game.
Battered and bruised - Unfortunately the Bears defense will be dealing with some key injuries with edge rusher Khalil Mack out, free safety Eddie Jackson doubtful, and middle linebacker Alec Ogletree questionable to play Monday. The depth of the secondary is going to be tested and overall the Bears are not even close to ideal health.
The Steelers have really struggled to score points themselves. Shame on the Bears defense if they can’t find a way to keep the team in the game after a horrific performance against the 49ers.
Defensive coordinator Sean Desai needs to get his guys ready of the players that are available and keep the Steelers to the low 20s or create some scoring chances themselves.
Ryan Bukowiecki covers the Chicago Bears and professional football for WARR