Denver Broncos @ Chicago Bears – Preview

By Ha Kung Wong  Chicago Bears @ St. Louis Rams

Twitter: @FBGarbageTime

The Chicago Bears are back on track after a convincing win against what everyone thought was a solid St. Louis Rams defense.  As predicted, the Rams were vulnerable on the ground, and rookie Jeremy Langford took full advantage of that for a second impressive game in a row.  But will the Bears be able to keep the dream alive and get their first three game winning streak in two seasons against head coach John Fox and offensive coordinator Adam Gase’s former team?

Denver Broncos @ Chicago Bears

Bears Offense

Even after a couple poor showings against the Colts and Chiefs, the Denver Broncos Defense is still first in terms of limiting yards allowed per game to opposing offenses (277.3).  They’re slightly better against the pass than they are against the run (1st and 6th in the league respectively), but it’s essentially inconsequential.  They’re a tough defense to beat under any circumstances, allowing the third least points to opposing offenses per game (18.7).

But the Bears managed to hang 37 points on the 5th best scoring defense in the league in Week 10, and without lead RB Matt Forte.  Backup RB Jeremy Langford put up 182 total yards and 2 TDs, which put him in impressive company, as, according to ESPN, Walter Payton and Gale Sayers were the only other players in Bears history with at least 100 receiving yards, 1 receiving TD and 1 rush TD in a single game.  In addition, Jay Cutler had one of his best games of the season completing 19 of 24 passes for 258 yards and 3 TDs for a total QBR of 90.2.  Of course, a lot of those yards were after the catch by resurgent TE Zach Miller and Langford, but it all counts the same.  And all of it was done while WR Alston Jeffery was shut down with only 23 yards, which may be important with Jeffery being listed as questionable with a groin injury that popped up on Wednesday, keeping him out of practice on both Thursday and Friday.

Without Jeffery, and Eddie Royal already ruled out, Marquess Wilson will have to step up as Cutler’s primary WR, but I suspect we’ll see a lot more Marcellus Bennett and Zach Miller as well.  It’s possible that Forte will return from his MCL injury, getting a limited practice in during the week, but it’s more likely the Bears will be cautious in light of the short week to the important Thanksgiving game against the Packers.

And although the Broncos defense will be tough, they’ve been vulnerable over the last two weeks and will continue to be without LB DeMarcus Ware.  Teams have been able to move the ball on the Broncos recently and the Bears offense has been humming since Jay Cutler’s return from injury, winning 4 of 6, with the only two loses by just 3 points.

Bears Defense

As I mentioned last week, the Bears defense has been quietly having a good year, now being ranked 8th overall in the NFL this season.  And after Week 10, the Bears have improved and are now ranked 4th against the pass, but have slipped a bit to 26th against the run.

But the Broncos will have their own issues, as future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning will miss this game due to a torn foot ligament.  Honestly, this might not be a negative, as Manning has been abysmal this year, throwing more interceptions than TDs.  Brock Osweiler will step in after being passable in relief last week (14 of 24 for 146 yards with one touchdown and one interception).  It’s unlikely the Broncos will lean on Osweiler to make big plays, particularly on the road with Emmanuel Sanders less than 100%.  It’s more likely they’ll lean on current starting RB Ronnie Hillman and former starting RB C.J. Anderson.  Neither have been very productive of late, but they won’t have to be to take advantage of the Bears weak run defense.

Prediction

The feeling I had last week was confirmed by the Bears performance against a challenging Rams defense in Week 10.  Even without Jeffery, I think the Bears manage to move the ball enough to score on the Broncos, while limiting what is likely to be a conservative Broncos offense to few opportunities.

Chicago Bears 24 – Denver Broncos 20