Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
I’ll admit, the situation looks pretty dire. The Bears fell flat in their Week 1 loss to the Buffalo Bills. The mighty offense is already battered and beat up with 2 starting offensive linemen listed as Out and their dynamic wide receiver duo of Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery both listed as Questionable heading into the Sunday Night Football battle to open the brand new Levi’s Stadium against the always tough San Francisco 49ers. Besides battling the Niners, the Bears are also battling history, as the last time they won in San Francisco was in 1985 and their last eight trips out west have come up in losses, most of them of the blowout variety.
But there are reasons to hold out hope. I can see a way that the Bears could pull off the win. Here are my Keys to a Chicago Bears victory.
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#PlayForte
Matt Forte got 18 carries last week. 18?!?! The Bears can’t expect to match up with the 49ers if they only run the ball 18 times. DeMarco Murray had a nice game in Week 1 against a 49ers defense that is a little shorthaded. He was able to gain 118 yards on just 22 carries.
The Bears unexplainably went away from the running game despite being in a close game against the Bills. If the Bears can “#PlayForte” (my nod to the old #payforte hashtag that swept my Twitter timeline a couple of years ago before the Bears re-signed Forte to a contract extension, I think they have a chance.
The longer the Bears can control the ball and stay on the field, the longer they can keep their anemic defense off the field.