Week 4: Bears vs Raiders Preview
Its’ been an absolutely brutal week to be a Bears’ fan. Ryan Pace is scrubbing Halas Hall of any stench left by Phil Emery, be it by trading away players who aren’t scheme fits, or shipping off questionable free agent acquisitions. It has been made very clear that Ryan Pace is building a roster his way. It’s safe to say the Bears are in full rebuild mode, but this weekend the Bears take on a young and hungry Raiders team that after multiple failed ‘rebuild’ attempts, may have finally found cornerstones at QB, WR, RB, and DE. The Bears are due for a win, but the Silver and Black are loaded with talent.
Let’s take a look at how the Bears vs Raiders match up for Week 4:
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Offensively: Derek Carr is good. Like, really good. Tramon Williams recently compared him to Aaron Rodgers, which comes as excellent news because generally, the Bears have faired pretty well against Aaron Rodgers in the past, right? Pass Rush nees to be generated consistently throughout this game. Otherwise Carr will be left alone to pick apart the Bears already thin secondary. His top target is Amari Cooper, the third overall pick in this past draft. Cooper is such a fluid and explosive athlete, that I’m willing to bet a pretty penny that he torches the Bears’ defensive backs at least once come Sunday afternoon. Kyle Fuller will likely be given the honors of guarding Cooper. If there was ever a time for Kyle Fuller to show up, Sunday would be a fine place to start. The Raiders can kill you on the ground as well. Second year back Latavius Murray looks to be a starter in Oakland’s backfield for years to come. Fear not, Bears fans. After serving his three game suspension, Jeremiah Ratliff is back and should provide quite a boost to this Bears front seven.
Defensively: Here’s the thing, if Jay Cutler plays Sunday, the odds may slight shift in favor of the Bears. If Jimmy Clausen starts, however, the Bears offensive playbook becomes a lot smaller. Without Cutler, expect the Bears to call multiple outside zone runs to Matt Forte. Granted, Jimmy Clausen was thrown to the wolves in Seattle last week, we cannot expect this offense to be run effectively with Clausen as the starter. The only way this offense moves is with Jay Cutler. A match up to keep an eye on is Kyle Long (RT) vs. Khalil Mack (OLB) Mack is an absolute terror on the edge. Kyle Long has answered the call of his new position, and has been only performing better at right tackle each passing week. Something else worth noting: the Raiders defense can’t stop tight ends. Here’s to hoping Adam Gase can exploit Jack Del Rio‘s defense with Martellus Bennett.
Prediction: It is as black and white as this, if Jay Cutler plays, the Bears have a shot at grabbing their first win of the season. My gut feeling says he starts Sunday.
Bears-24 Raiders-14