Washington Redskins @ Chicago Bears – Preview

By Ha Kung Wong  Washington Redskins @ Chicago Bears

Twitter: @FBGarbageTime

Both the Bears and the Redskins sit at less than impressive 5-7.  But the Redskins are in the hunt for the NFC East division, and a shot at the playoffs, whereas the Bears have squandered its long shot opportunity at a Wild Card bid by losing in Week 13 against the 49ers in overtime.

Interestingly, the Redskins suffer from the same problem as the 49ers did prior to visiting Soldier Field, as they can’t win on the road.  In fact, the Redskins haven’t won a road game in over 13 months.  But, as I mentioned last week, and which played out again with the 49ers, the Bears have now lost 12 of their last 15 at Soldier Field and are only 1-5 this season at home.  It doesn’t much matter anymore, but will the Bears be able to make a late season push towards finishing .500?

Washington Redskins @ Chicago Bears

Bears Offense

After getting Matt Forte and Alshon Jeffery back, there was hope that the Bears could get back on track and finish strong.  But Martellus Bennett and Marques Wilson have now been placed on IR, and sources indicate that rookie Kevin White will not be activated by the December 15 deadline, leaving the Bears receiving core without depth once again.  Eddie Royal is on track to return, but missing so many weeks is sure to make him rusty.

Partially as a result of these lack of consistent weapons, regardless of Jay Cutler’s improvement under new OC Adam Gase, the Bears are in the bottom half of the league in passing yards per game (232.3).  But, with Jeremy Langford and even Ka’deem Carey contributing at a high level on the ground, the Bears have averaged the 11th most rushing yards per game (115.7).  The Redskins have allowed the 8th most rushing yards per game (124.2), but have been relatively solid against the pass.  If the Bears hope to win this game, they’ll need to take advantage of that and limit turnovers.

Bears Defense

As I’ve mentioned since week 10, the Bears defense has been quietly having a decent year, remaining at 2nd against the pass, but also remaining at 29th against the run.

Kirk Cousins has not come along as planned.  He’s had a decent 68.6% completion percentage, but accrued a 17-10 TD-INT ratio and a total QBR of only 57.7.  In part due to Cousins’ performance and in part due to injuries among the Redskins WR core (including, in particular, Desean Jackson), the Redskins are in the bottom half of the league in passing yards per game (239.2).  Unfortunately, the Redskins are even worse on the ground, averaging only 94.3 rush yards per game, good for 7th worse in the NFL.

Prediction

The Redskins need this win to keep up in the NFC East.  But to do this they’ll have to take advantage of the poor Bears run defense and lean heavily on a run game that sports an inconsistent Alfred Morris and an unreliable Matt Jones.  As much as the Redskins have much more motivation than the Bears to come out on top, I think the Bears manage to grind this out on the ground and finally win another one at home.

Washington Redskins 20 – Chicago Bears 24