The Bears will travel to Baltimore this Sunday to face off against the struggling Ravens. Baltimore sits at 1-5 after sustaining injuries to several key players already as we sit here approaching Week 8. Two-time MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson is among the players who have missed time this season, but he seems set to make his return just in time for this matchup against Chicago. The Ravens absolutely can not lose this game and fall to 1-6 if they have any hope of making the playoffs this year. Meanwhile, the Bears are winners of four straight. They have not been playing the cleanest football, but the defense has been phenomenal and Ben Johnson has gotten his rushing attack humming over the past two weeks.
We have another revenge game before us this week, this time concerning Ravens stud linebacker Roquan Smith. Smith, who also appears ready to return from injury this week, was drafted in the first round by Chicago in 2018 and played four and a half seasons of fantastic linebacker for the Bears. The situation turned sour towards the end, with Smith and Bears management not seeing eye-to-eye on contract amounts. The Bears ended up trading Roquan midway through the 2022 season, and haven’t faced him since.
Keys to the Game
Bears
- Caleb Williams Throw for 250+ Yards and/or at Least 2 TDs
The Ravens defense has been horrendous this season, having allowed the 4th most points in the NFL. Teams are passing all over them; Baltimore has allowed the 5th-most passing TDs this year and the 9th-most net yards per pass attempt. The Bears will need to exploit this.
Now, the Bears’ run game has been fantastic over the past two weeks. This isn’t to say that that doesn’t need to continue, or even that Chicago can’t rely on it like it did last week. It’s to say that, if Lamar Jackson is healthy, running well and putting up 26 points (like Chicago did last week) isn’t likely to be enough. Caleb Williams and the passing game will need to take a step up from last week to keep up with last season’s MVP runner-up in Week 8. Williams or one of his receivers need to be the X-factor.
- Limit Lamar Jackson on Ground
The Bears also need to ensure that Jackson doesn’t win this game with his legs. Lamar is arguably the most dangerous player in the NFL with the ball in his hands. Chicago’s run defense has been great since the bye week, but even the improved version of it allowed 52 yards and 5.2 yards per carry to Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels in Week 5. While Chicago was still able to secure the win in that game, it didn’t have much slack to give up. If the Bears can hold Lamar to a number similar to Daniels’, they’ve proven they can overcome it. However, anything too much higher will spell trouble for Chicago.
Ravens
- Commit to Run Game
The Ravens need to commit to the run game this Sunday. Although the Bears have gotten much better against the run, pounding the rock with Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson is still Baltimore’s bread and butter. Despite the 1-5 record, the Ravens rank 2nd in yards per carry on the year. If they stick with it, especially if Lamar is healthy and running well, they could wear out Chicago defense and kick it back to Week 1.
- Take Care of the Football
The Bears defense has surged to 1st in takeaways during its four game winning streak. Over the past four weeks, Chicago has forced 15 turnovers-an insane stat. The team is living off of these takeaways right now. If the Ravens take them away from the Bears, they will be taking away a massive strength that they have relied upon for the past month. Doing so would limit Chicago’s abilities to commit penalties and make mistakes. Baltimore’s offense has committed the 8th-most turnovers this season, so we’ll see if it can tighten things up this week.